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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The second episode of "The Ultimate Fighter: Live" on FX last Friday night saw a dip in ratings from the two and a half hour debut. MMAJunkie.com reports that Friday's episode two drew only 1.1 million viewers to FX, down from the 1.3 million that tuned in for the premiere.
That number makes it one of the least watched episodes in the show's history. That's not much of a surprise with the premiere being the lowest rated in show history, but it still ranked as one of the most watched cable programs in its timeslot on Friday night.
The show moved from Wednesdays to their new Friday night format as part of the new deal with Fox and its family of networks. With the first live tournament fight airing in the final ten minutes of the episode, the first 50 felt mostly like the series has in the past, mixing in pre-taped material from the week leading up to the fight.
Penick's Analysis: Whether this lower rating represents a low mark for the season remains to be seen, but the show certainly isn't pulling what Dana White expected when talking about the move last fall. The move to Friday nights could be a major reason, as it's typically a night where the UFC's core demographic isn't staying at home, leading to lower numbers across the board. Less awareness of the UFC on FX could be an issue as well, as the organization and the show are still heavily ingrained in the minds of many as a Spike TV production. The show isn't catching on in the new format just yet, but it may improve going forward after a solid first standalone episode. There are any number of reasons the show could be underperforming, but it has to be disappointing on some level to only hit these marks thus far.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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