Strikeforce CEO Says CBS Will Air Future Cards Due To Success
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Strikeforce Earns CBS 4.0 Million Viewers In
Primetime On Saturday Night |
CBS earned a 2.5 final Nielsen rating and 4.042 million viewers for its Strikeforce telecast on Saturday night from 9:00-11:24pm ET. The event, which was headlined by Fedor Emelianenko-Brett Rogers, ranked 84th among all broadcast TV primetime telecasts last week. Among the big four networks, NBC's "Mercy" (1.4 rating from 8:00-9:00pm) was the only Saturday primetime telecast that Strikeforce outrated. CBS' first "Saturday Night Fights" telecast in May '08, which featured EliteXC and fighter Kimbo Slice, earned a 3.0 rating and 4.851 million viewers (THE DAILY). Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that because Saturday's fight card on CBS "delivered 'those 18-34 male numbers in a big way,' CBS will televise future cards." But a CBS spokesperson said that "no decision has been made on whether the network would telecast another Strikeforce card, although Saturday's bouts drew new viewers to the network." In L.A., Lance Pugmire reports "Saturday Night Fights" saw a CBS earn a 267% increase in men 18-34. Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White said that CBS' ratings for the Strikeforce event were a "disappointment." White said CBS "would be out of their mind to put that rinky-dink" Strikeforce promotion "on the air again." White added "without that backing," promoters "won't have the money to pay" Fedor Emelianenko, who won the main event Saturday (L.A. TIMES, 11/10). SI.com's Ben Fowlkes noted CBS "went into the Strikeforce broadcast hoping to get a piece of the 18-49-year-old male demographic that it doesn't typically see on a Saturday night." While the network reportedly is "pleased with the results, MMA's greatest heavyweight still couldn't outdraw reruns" of NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" or Fox' "America's Most Wanted." Fowlkes: "For the moment, it doesn't seem to matter whether Kimbo Slice or Fedor Emelianenko is in the main event" (SI.com, 11/9).
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