The broadcast numbers for Bellator Fighting Championships first two events of the promotions fourth season looked promising with 200,000 plus viewers on MTV2 for Bellator events 35 and 36. Numbers for the third show for the promotions fourth season, Bellator 37, dipped to 173,000 viewers.
Those numbers have dipped even more after this past weekends Bellator 38 event, bringing in a season low number of 150,000 viewers. The numbers were confirmed by MMAjunkie.com with sources close to the event.
Bellator 38 featured the opening quarterfinals for the promotions light heavyweight tournament. The event took place at Harah’s Tunica Hotel and Casino in Tunica Resorts, Miss.
Two factors that may have produced lower viewer numbers was a special start time for the Bellator event, which aired on MTV2 at 7PM EST instead of it’s traditional 8PM EST start time. The move was done to avoid direct competition with the UFC’s Seattle, Washington event, UFC Fight Night 24, which aired on Spike TV. The UFC also provided fans with five preliminary bouts through their Facebook.com/UFC page for free, which directly conflicted with the Bellator broadcast.
Picking up wins at Bellator 38, and moving into the semi-finals were Tim Carpenter, Richard Hale, D.J. Linderman, and Christian M’Pumbu.