It’s no secret that the first installment of The Ultimate Fighter Live has experienced some growing pains. It may look and feel a whole lot like previous seasons, but in reality it’s an entirely new concept with plenty of difficulties involved on the production end.
The biggest problem presented for the production team comes in how they develop and tell stories that are interesting to the audience over the course of a full season.
With previous seasons, the producers knew the results before the product ever aired on television. They were able to build interesting storylines that led to the fights, all while knowing what the outcome of the actual fight would be. That’s an invaluable thing when dealing with television.
For the most part, the live nature takes that ability away. The production staff can try to build stories on a weekly basis, but it’s tough to do that without knowing how the fight is going to turn out. They’re still doing an admirable job with that they’re given, but it doesn’t have the same kind of suspense and drama that previous seasons did.
Dana White recognizes that there are issues with the show. It’s been the lowest-rated season in history, and White is cognizant of that fact. He says to stick with him, because there will be changes to the show in the future, which could include a move to a different day:
“This is a team effort. We’re doing what we’re doing this season, and then we’re going to switch some things up. We’re going to make this thing work and make it great—if it’s Friday night or it’s whatever. Believe me.”
Fridays are a difficult time to capture audiences, even for live sporting events. Fans don’t want to stay home and watch TV. They want to go out with their friends, and they’ll DVR the show and then watch it later in the weekend. Moving the show to Wednesday or Thursday nights would go a long way toward drawing in more viewers.
What other changes can they make to the show to make things more compelling? The live format is interesting from a fight perspective, but right now it ultimately feels like a one-hour UFC countdown show for a fight between two guys you’ve probably never heard of.
What changes would you make to make the show more interesting and fresh? Sound off in the comments.
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