(Struggling towards victory in the middle of a barren wasteland — an apt metaphor for Friday-night television, if you think about it.)

 By Oliver Chan

“With all due respect to Spike…  Mr. Hill, Mr. Shanks, and I have 50 gross rating points and promotions in the cushions of our couches.”  - President of FX, John Landgraf, on the performance of TUF on Spike (8/18/11)

There’s a lot to be said about the declining ratings of The Ultimate Fighter since the move to FX and rightfully so. FX has yet to see the same success as TUF had when it was on Spike. However, as John Landgraf pointed out during the August 2011 press conference announcing the deal with the UFC and Fox, Spike simply does not hold a candle to the ratings delivery that FX gets. When you compare the numbers on a national level, he’s right.

Just take a look at the Nielson Prime-time numbers from 3Q11:

(Click to enlarge)

Comparing the two networks, FX has an increase of the 18-34 and 18-49 demos on both impressions delivered as well as the ratings share over Spike. It’s also important to realize that according to the Cable Advertising Bureau, Spike is available in close to 99 million homes, where FX is in just over 97 million.  In other words, FX still manages to attract move viewers, despite being in less than 2 million homes than Spike.

Photo Props: UFC.com

Even though FUEL TV is still unavailable to most Americans, the UFC been a consistent draw for the channel. When FUEL TV aired the preliminary fights from UFC on FX 1, it set a company ratings record with an average of 148,000 viewers. This number was almost matched by the prelims for UFC on FOX 2, which averaged 144,000.

With the ratings now in for the UFC’s first live card, Wednesday’s UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger, FUEL TV executives have to be impressed. The three hour broadcast averaged 217,000 viewers, with ratings peaking at 315,000 viewers during the evening’s main event. Also of note, the event landed FUEL TV’s ratings in the Top 10 for ad-supported cable networks among the 18-49 year old men demographic.

Not bad for a channel that most of the people reading this don’t get.

(The terrifying moment when Rogan notices that Samuel L. Jackson is in the audience, and no, he has apparently never heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)

You have to love this about Spike TV, when they have a good night for ratings or even just a qualified success, they aren’t bashful about making sure everyone knows it.  Spike sent out a press release today touting their 1.5 rating for the “Ultimate Fighter” 9 Finale show, which brought in “more men in the advertiser-coveted demographic of Men 18-34 (663,000) than MLB baseball on FOX (184,000) and coverage of U.S. Open golf on NBC (384,000) which ran earlier that day.”  In other words, they beat a mid-season baseball game and a rain-soaked golf event among young men.  But like the fighters always say, a win’s a win.