"UFC on Fox 3” earned a 1.5 final rating and 2.4 million viewers from 8:00-10:10pm ET on Saturday night for a card that featured Nate Diaz defeating Jim Miller, marking the least-viewed UFC telecast on Fox to date. That figure is down 42% and 48%, respectively, from a 2.6 rating and 4.7 million viewers for “UFC on Fox 2” on Jan. 28, which featured Rashad Evans defeating Phil Davis. The net’s first UFC broadcast on Nov. 12, which was a one-hour telecast featuring Junior Dos Santos’ defeat of Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight title, earned a 3.1 rating and 5.7 million viewers. Saturday's telecast did win Fox the night among adults 18-49. The broadcast was Fox' fifth Saturday night sports telecast this year to date, and each telecast has led the net to a win for the night in the demo (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
LEARNING CURVE: In Baltimore, David Zurawik writes MASN analyst Mike Bordick “has a lot of promise ... but I also think he has a steep learning curve ahead of him if he want to be a major leaguer in the booth.” Compared to Baseball HOFer Jim Palmer, with whom Bordick splits the season, “almost anyone would seem weak -- especially someone just starting out in the broadcast booth like Bordick.” Zurawik: “Everyone is probably right about Bordick being such a nice guy, but right now, that might also be the biggest part of his problem. He's too nice, too modest, and not egotistical enough.” He also “needs to be more aggressive in terms of air time” (Baltimore SUN, 5/9).
DONE DEAL IN SAN DIEGO: In San Diego, Bill Center reports MLB “recently approved Fox Sports San Diego’s 20-year, $1 billion television agreement with the Padres.” A Fox spokesperson said, “We said all along it was a formality.” However, the FSSD signal “still only reaches around 60 percent of the area’s viewers” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/9).
NOTES: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area “has begun providing sports news and commentary for the website of NBC Bay Area (KNTV).” The arrangement of Comcast’s RSNs providing coverage for their local NBC affiliates “might be duplicated in other cities like Philadelphia, Dallas, Baltimore and New York.” For now, the Bay Area “is the only market with such an agreement with its local NBC affiliate” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/8)....Bell Media has created a series “of eight original documentaries” about the CFL entitled “Engraved on a Nation” to celebrate this year’s 100th Grey Cup. The series will be shown “in September on TSN, CTV and the French-language RDS networks” (TORONTO STAR, 5/8).
