ratings

(Props: ArkhamAsylum via TheGarv)

Brilliant. Speaking of ugly defeats, Spike's "Main Events" counter-programming special that aired opposite "Fedor vs. Rogers" on Saturday night drew 2.14 million average viewers — over back-to-back airings. According to MMA Junkie, "The 9 p.m. ET/PT airing of the special drew 1.2 million viewers, and the 11 p.m. replay drew an additional 939,000 viewers." If you'll recall, Strikeforce's live show brought in a very respectable 4.04 million average viewers on CBS. (Doesn't feel good getting outgunned by a larger network, does it Dana?) With their asses chapped by the ratings drubbing, Spike sent out some data implying that Fedor is still no Kimbo-on-TUF when it comes to putting asses on couches. Our advice to Fedor? Learn English, grow a bushy beard, and knock some fools out in a boatyard. And would it kill you to start a Twitter page?

(Look familiar? Photo courtesy of this set on Combat Lifestyle.)

Though the entire broadcast of "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers" averaged 4.04 million viewers — placing it behind Kimbo-headlined CBS cards like "EliteXC: Primetime" (4.85 million viewers) and "EliteXC: Heat" (4.56 million viewers) — the ratings for Saturday night's card shot up during the main event. MMA Weekly reports that 5.46 million home viewers were in attendance between 11:00 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., making the Emelianenko vs. Rogers match the ninth-most-watched fight in U.S. MMA history. You can check out this slightly outdated list to see where that puts them, but basically, the fight fell just 15,000 viewers short of Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill, and about 1.8 million viewers short of the reigning champion, Kimbo vs. James Thompson. Senior Executive Vice President of CBS Primetime Kelly Kahl was pleased with the numbers:

Not coincidentally, the 11:00-11:15 p.m. block coincides with the time when the UFC's "Main Events" broadcast on Spike had just ended — so a large part of the bump could be attributed to MMA fans switching from one channel to another. (No word yet on how Spike did that night.) The question is: Can Fedor draw even better ratings in his next CBS appearance, now that he's more of a known quantity? Will he ever approach — dare we say it — Kimbo-esque levels of stardom?

(Cheer up buddy, that's like one viewer for every dollar you made! Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

According to new viewership figures dug up by FightTicker, Showtime's broadcast of "Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz" pulled in 364,000 average viewers on Saturday night, for an average rating of 0.64. While that may sound piss-poor, considering the UFC drew 1.9 million viewers (and an avg. rating of 1.4) for their replay of UFC 94 on Spike TV the same night, there is a silver lining.

First off, that 364,000 figure makes "Shamrock vs. Diaz" the third most-watched MMA event in Showtime history, putting it just behind Strikeforce's "Shamrock vs. Baroni" event in June 2007 (which hangs on to its #2 spot with 365,000 viewers) and the Kimbo Slice-headlined "EliteXC: Street Certified" in February 2008 (which scored 511,000 viewers). Plus, you have to take into consideration the fact that Spike TV is available in six times as many homes as Showtime. And still, Strikeforce's 1.53 rating among men aged 18-34 actually beat UFC 94's rating in that category (1.3).

I'm not an expert in this stuff, but that seems like a decent starting point for Strikeforce 2.0. No, they're not ready to throw together pay-per-view events, but they managed to make a good showing with a card headlined by a non-title fight involving one guy who was coming off a loss. The event itself was entertaining enough to hook most viewers into coming back for the next installment. Can June's "Lawler vs. Shields" show keep the momentum rolling — or will it be a ratings disappointment without a big name like "Shamrock" to draw casual viewers?

(Andrei and Roy fight for recognition in this hot-chick-and-Internet-brawler-dominated world of MMA. Photo courtesy of AOL Sports.)

EliteXC pulled its CBS ratings back up to the levels of its first "Saturday Night Fights" broadcast with this weekend's "Heat" show, which drew 4.30 million average viewers through 11 p.m. (not counting the main event, which ran over the scheduled time); May's "Primetime" card took in a nearly identical 4.31 million average viewers in the same timeframe. "Heat" made CBS the #1 network among male viewers in the 18-34 and 18-49 age brackets, and in the adults (men and women) 18-34 category. It tied with ABC’s college football broadcast among adults 18-49, and was soundly beaten in overall rating by America's Most Wanted.

Even though the numbers display no growth from the May show, they're much higher than the Kimbo-and-Gina-less bomb of "Unfinished Business," and CBS is (at least publicly) happy with the ratings. As CBS Senior Executive VP for Primetime Kelly Kahl told AOL Sports's Michael David Smith:

"We have a four-fight contract. We certainly plan on coming back with fight No. 4. The numbers last night were terrific. The total viewer number was on par with May 31 and the demos were down just a little bit, but we were up against a couple good college football games and the baseball playoffs...Last night was a step ahead, not a step back. To do roughly the numbers we did in May against much steeper competition bodes pretty well."

Discussing the idea that Kimbo's loss would mean the end for EliteXC on CBS, Kahl said:

"That is 100 percent misinformed, written by a lot of people who have very little inside knowledge into what's going on even though they might think they do."

Question: Will people still tune in to see Kimbo Slice fight now that he's been exposed as merely human, or will Saturday Night Fights have to become The Gina Carano Show? It seems EliteXC will need a Tito Ortiz-caliber signing to ensure that their next CBS card doesn't follow in the disappointing footsteps of "Unfinished Business."

(There's really no reason for us to post this picture except that holy shit is Cris Cyborg terrifying.)

From an amusing new press release just sent out by Spike TV:

SPIKE TV’S RE-BROADCAST OF UFC 84 DRAWS MORE YOUNG MEN THAN A LIVE PRO ELITEXC CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT ON CBS

Need proof the UFC is the preeminent mixed martial arts brand in the world? On Saturday, July 26, more men 18-34 watched a repeat…a repeat…of a UFC event on Spike TV than a LIVE telecast of a Pro EliteXC championship card on CBS. Despite being available in over 17 million more homes [ed. note: I think they mean over 17 million less homes?], Spike TV drew 27% more Men 18-34 for a re-broadcast of “UFC 84: Penn vs. Sherk” from (9:00-12:00am ET/PT) than CBS’s live show (9:00-11:00pm). Spike TV’s telecast tallied 433,000 Men 18-34 to CBS’s 341,000.

Overall, “UFC 84: Penn vs. Sherk” drew higher ratings than Pro EliteXC in Men 18-49 (1.5 to 1.3) and Men 18-34 (1.5 and 1.0).

Reminiscent of the XFL’s rating collapse years ago, the CBS telecast was 69% lower in Men 18-34 and 57% lower with Men 18-49 than its initial broadcast on CBS in May featuring the “He Hate Me” of MMA, Kimbo Slice.

Garbling the competition's name as "Pro EliteXC" is an awesomely passive aggressive touch, as is comparing EliteXC to the ill-fated XFL. We're not sure what's up with referring to Kimbo as "He Hate Me," though it sounds vaguely racist, and Spike Lee is probably preparing an infringement lawsuit as we speak.

Anyway, sending out a press release on your competition's weak ratings is a barrel of laughs, but maybe the joke's on Spike.