(If Kimbo couldn’t convince you to watch the show, there’s really no hope for any of us.)
According to a new report on MMAJunkie, the ratings for Friday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter on FX were low enough to make it the lowest-rated episode in the entire 15-season run of the series, and represented a 27% drop from the season premiere last month. (Damn, and we were sure that the Chris Tickle gout-subplot would be a ratings juggernaut.) Here’s how the ratings have shaken out so far this season:
The Ultimate Fighter: Live episode 1: 1.3 million viewers
The Ultimate Fighter: Live episode 2: 1.1 million viewers
The Ultimate Fighter: Live episode 3: 1.2 million viewers
The Ultimate Fighter: Live episode 4: 1.1 million viewers
The Ultimate Fighter: Live episode 5: 947,000 viewers
Grain of salt time…
Obviously, this season’s installment of the show has aired on a different channel, on a different night, and in a different format than all the previous seasons, so it makes sense that the ratings numbers on Spike TV wouldn’t automatically carry over. For the record, FX and Spike are available in approximately the same number of homes.
While TUF fans could eventually re-discover the show on FX, the notorious Friday-night timeslot will be the biggest hurdle to overcome; the UFC’s target audience of young men generally doesn’t stay in and watch TV that night. Will we see a re-scheduling of the show if ratings continue to plummet?