Elite XC heats up CBS ratings with Oct. 4 show at BankAtlantic Center

by James Iannotti on Oct 5, 2008 10:10 PM EDT Comment 35 comments

kimbo
Elite XC had a lot on the line last night with its third event on CBS. The original deal called for four events to air on the network television channel, but CBS retained the right to defer any of the events to its sister premium cable channel, Showtime, if so desired.

After lackluster television ratings for the second event in July, it was clear the promotion was in danger of losing event number four on CBS if numbers didn't improve in Sunrise, Fla., with the "Heat" event at the BankAtlantic Center.

The network even helped with a strong advertising push -- you couldn't watch CBS over the last two weeks without seeing some kind of commercial for the event. Apparently the push helped ... a lot.

According to TVByTheNumbers.com, Elite XC drew 4.38 million viewers last night -- an increase of nearly 1.5 million from "Unfinished Business" in July.

The rating, which is the estimated percentage of the TV households in the world tuned to a program in the average minute, was at 1.8 percent. The share, which is the based on the percentage of households using televisions at that time, was at 6 percent.

Here's the ratings/share and total number of viewers for all three CBS events for the 18-49 demographic according to the Nielsen ratings reported after each event on TVByTheNumbers.com.

May 31 "Saturday Night Fights": 1.9/6 with 4 million viewers
July 26 "Unfinished Business": 1.0/3 with 2.62 million viewers
October 4 "Heat": 1.8/6 with 4.38 million viewers

All three events were beat out by "America's Most Wanted" in the 18-49 demo. The popular FOX series has traditionally dominated that age group on Saturday nights.

The important thing here is that the numbers for the third event were much closer to the May 31 show, which was considered a big success, as opposed to the one on July 26, which was deemed a failure.

These numbers should be impressive enough for CBS to air a fourth event in 2009. However, the network may an uphill battle replicating the success now that its main attraction, Kimbo Slice, will surely be drawing less attention after his 14-second loss last night.

Time will tell.

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Comments

But seriously whats next for them? It would be harder to hype a big kimbo fight again. Especially against a can since thats who’s hes gonna have to fight so he can get win again. Best thing Elite Xc has going is the female fights

by RiverHorror on Oct 5, 2008 10:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol do you honestly care about the female fights? i think arlovski is a little more interesting to watch than a couple girls on their period slapping each other

by brendan on Oct 5, 2008 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

at this point, Yes, I care about the female fights compared to A.A.‘s last bout. He was sloppy, slow and up until the KO (granted to his credit) he was getting TOOLED by Big Country. If that’s the best Arlovski can do, he should do everything in his power to avoid fighting Fedor at ALL costs. It would be his funeral.

by chefdaddy on Oct 5, 2008 11:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think youre grossly underestimating arlovski, he had a 270 pound man on top of him, pretty tough to scramble out of that… and then the 2nd round came and he finished with a devastating knockout… did we watch the same fight?

by brendan on Oct 6, 2008 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I guess I’m still waiting for him to perform like the Pitbull of old. I was really looking forward to seeing him fight again, and in the end, this fight went as predicted. But before that? Big Country was ALL over him. He matched him FAR better in the standup than anyone predicted (although his leg kicks were nice), and quite frankly that armbar attempt was too close for comfort. but my point was, if that was the best he could muster against a guy everyone thought he would kill, how will he match against the best HW in the world? Not very well unless he changes some things.

by chefdaddy on Oct 6, 2008 7:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

up above- Arlovski’s leg kicks.

by chefdaddy on Oct 6, 2008 7:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At one point during that fight, Nelson had side control and was working for the kimura, and the ref STOOD THE FIGHT UP. What was that all about??? That seemed kinda shady.

And Brendan, maybe this was the first Elite show you watched, but typically, the female fight steals the show!

by ViolentMike on Oct 6, 2008 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the fight should not have been stood up at that point, but it didnt have anything to do with the eventual outcome imo. i think nelson would have laid on top of arlovski until the bell rung(he wasnt THAT close to getting the kimura and didnt even try for a full mount). nelson would have won the 1rst rnd by default, the only reason it went to the ground was b/c andrei took it there and made a mistake. 2nd rnd still would have been the same. arlovski koed a guy who had never been koed before and nelson was only able to make a tussle out of the match b/c he is a very unorthodox fighter and benefitted from a small cage. but nelson did look a little better than what i gave him credit for.

by b.w. on Oct 6, 2008 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Everyone misses the Andre of old but the plain fact of the matter is Andre fights to his opponents level. Since his Tim fights Andre has slowed to his opponenets pace and just rides the fight until his opponents make a mistake. Its a little sad although I’ll never complain when I get to see a fight with him in it. Quite frankly though I think they need to seriously step his competition back up and give him some good fights. If he took on Barnett or Fedor he’d step up and we’d see an exciting fight regardless of the outcome.

by Cogito Ergo Sum on Oct 6, 2008 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought the stand up was premature by the referee for sure. Also, it was not a devastating KO as Big Country prob could have continued. If AA gets in there with Fedor, he’ll get destroyed. Listen, AA lost to Tim Sylvia twice. I know you cant compare fighters’ common opponents, but he lost twice.

by TC on Oct 6, 2008 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I consider Arlovski an Affliction fighter

by RiverHorror on Oct 6, 2008 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

he is an affliction fighter, he was only out on loan to elite for that 1 fight. i actually still think of him as a ufc fighter, wich will probably be the case again in about a year at most.

by b.w. on Oct 6, 2008 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As far as Kimbo goes I think he must feel some relief now that he lost a fight, it’s hard to say how much of that hype got to him in a personally negative way.

Kimbo’s hype machine is probably not done, they will build his next fight with Ken Shamrock as ‘The Road to Redemption’ (lol), casual kimbo fans will believe it! & still watch him fight since they’ve gotten a taste of this crazy MMA rollercoaster sport. Just as fans continued to watch Mike Tyson after his loss to buster douglas. Each time Kimbo loses though, the ‘hype’ pill will be harder to swallow,, losing 2 in a row will probably end it.

Elite XC is not done because of Kimbo’s loss, it’s partnership with Affliction brings new and exciting talent to CBS. Now Elite XC can feel somewhat free to push and promote some of it’s bigger REAL talent.

Imagine this next CBS ELITE XC AND AFFLICTION CARD.

Fedor VS Arlovski
Kimbo VS Ken Shamrock
Tito Ortiz VS Frank Shamrock
Carano VS Cyborg
Shields VS Lawler – Champion VS Champion
Renato Sobral VS Seth Petruzilli

Now if both Casual and Hard Core MMA fans don’t like this FREE card, find another sport. Now I’m not talking about MMA purists, or Shaw, Kimbo or Elite XC haters. I’m talking about those of us that just love to watch MMA fights anywhere anytime!

by THORAZINE on Oct 5, 2008 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

petruzelli would get owned by babalu… id guess babalu at -1200 or something

by brendan on Oct 6, 2008 12:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL, that is true, but I don’t think there’s really any need to baby Petruzelli…at least give him a name opponent that will truely add to the events line up and weed out the non-talented… let darwinism take it’s natural order.

by THORAZINE on Oct 6, 2008 1:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also, I highly, highly, highly doubt that we would get to see Fedor fight on a free EliteXC card. When Fedor does return, it will be a PPV.

by ViolentMike on Oct 6, 2008 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

speaking of Fedor, he has the best commercial eva! A 36 second commercial of him owning Sylvia. lol it was like christmas getting to watch that over and over again.

by Cogito Ergo Sum on Oct 6, 2008 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i would pay for that.

by Nokimono on Oct 6, 2008 12:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that would be a great card granted, but that would blow their load. they don’t have enough talent on their roster to put ALL their good fights on one card, they’d have nothing to sell on the next one.

by Z on Oct 6, 2008 12:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Elite XC has a 4 Event contract with CBS… only 1 more to go!

by THORAZINE on Oct 6, 2008 1:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is there a pic of Shamrock’s cut?

by Robert on Oct 6, 2008 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They interviewed him at the beginning of the telecast

by ViolentMike on Oct 6, 2008 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was a great show i just wished for more fights.
it was great and free!!

by Gorandy on Oct 5, 2008 10:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Free is powerful nowadays

by RiverHorror on Oct 6, 2008 1:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thats nice that it was a success, but if Elitexc can manage to use some affliction fighters, then it can be a success

Kimbo vs Seth 2 can get ratings, but it is a gamble,
I do think if Kimbo fought smarter, he would have a chance, most would guess that he would do good against a kickboxer considering his trainer is Bas

I would tune in to watch the fight, but then again I would watch any free mma event

by mitt romney on Oct 5, 2008 10:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think they should just let it go and put Kimbo on the undercard against veterans. This way he can fight, without making the card look like it is centered around him. They can put Tito in the main event. He is starting his career at an older age and does not need to be fighting people like Seth.

by Bill Maher on Oct 5, 2008 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If anything, Arlovski and Fedor got some sweet exposure lol.

by Bill Maher on Oct 5, 2008 10:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

They have to do something. I am pretty sure that the next main event is supposed to feature the Diaz fight, and considering the Stockton show, he does not exactly have the biggest draw.

by naturalshadow on Oct 5, 2008 11:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Actually, from what I’m hearing, Diaz/Alvarez will not be the main event. The main event will be Lawler/Villasenior.

I REALLY think that Diaz/Alrvarez deserves to be the main event. They are both Main Event worthy fighers on thier own. Joey Villsenior used to be able to carry a King of the Cage show, but not an EliteXC show.

by ViolentMike on Oct 6, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Congrats to Jared Shaw and EliteXC for putting together an entertaining fight card for free.

by tom on Oct 5, 2008 11:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A rematch with Silverback would definitely get some ratings but its better that he fight another can before this fight to build it up some. AA looked like crap and as i said before Barnett&Fedor are a lvl or two above him.

by Khaos_Warrior on Oct 5, 2008 11:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I completely agree. AA is NOT the same fighter he was even a few years ago.

by chefdaddy on Oct 6, 2008 7:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

EliteXC doesn’t have very many options for their 4th event. Given their first 3 CBS shows, it seems obvious that without Kimbo they won’t get good ratings.

And now that people have seen Kimbo get destroyed, who knows if another Kimbo main event will even get enough viewers? I’ll bet many viewers tuned in to see Kimbo destroy someone like he does in his youtube fights, and they were drawn to that mystique EliteXC built up around him. Pretty safe to say most of that is gone now.

I think EliteXC is extremely screwed at this point, but I’d like to see them prove me wrong with their last event.

by talia on Oct 5, 2008 11:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs