Episode 3 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 has the distinction of scoring the lowest ratings in the history of the series according to MMApayout.com.
The October 1 episode garnered an anemic 0.8 rating, which translates into 1.1 million viewers overall. In addition to quarter hours of 0.80, 0.66, 0.79 and 0.90, the key demographic numbers were 1.13 in males 18-34 and a 1.04 in males 18-49.
This news comes as a bit of a shock, considering it’s so early in the season. The bulk of episodes 1 and 2 featured elimination fights to determine the final 16 contestants. And episode 3 was considered to be the unofficial launch of the series, with fighters getting accustomed to the UFC house and the selection of teams.
While it might not be time to hit the panic button just yet, the series needs to demonstrate an immediate improvement in ratings (and the ability to stabilize at or above 1.0) if it’s to be deemed a success.
By comparison, Season 7 found itself frequently dabbling in the 1.0 range, even dropping slightly below that number on two occasions. However, the series was able to rebound, scoring are 1.13 with 1.5 million viewers later in the season. In addition, the ratings in the 18-34 demographic were up from Season 6.
To be fair, Season 8 hasn’t had the chance to prove itself. But now the stakes are even higher in light of the dismal ratings for episode 3.
While I enjoy the addition of coaches Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira, there is an outside chance they’re not bringing in TUF generation viewers.
It’s not a knock on their accomplishments, but perhaps the absence of mainstream popularity enjoyed by previous coaches like Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz that could be to blame.
If Dana was able to produce the next Anderson Silva, he’d better make it a point to unveil him sooner rather than later.
The success of the season could depend on it.
89 Comments »
i quit watching the show a few seasons ago turning it on for the last 15 minutes only, it became to soap opera for me.this season because of nog and mir i am watching it again and so far i have liked it alot better than the last few as far quality of fights.i hope they don’t try some stupid gimics to increase ratings just give more fights in a episode and it would work for me.
you know what roy, I’ve been the most critical of the show! I think it’s disgrcaeful to give a bunch of young impressionable immature guys all the alcohol you can drink, and be so ignorant to what will happen next. This all said, I’ve actually enjoyed this season so far. I feel nog is a great coach and is teaching the team importance as far as training and preparing as a team, and Mir is also an excellent coach and teacher. I really don’t care how well a show does in the ratings, as long as it’s on, I’ll watch. As long as it doesn’t get dumb again (last year was terrible), I almost gave up on it, but am glad I gave it one more chance!
Truth.
I love this season’s batch, but it’s just too bad that they’re low on TV ratings…
You gotta admit, last week’s episode was a real snoozer!
comments mania???
whenever its a season with 2 weighth classes instead of just 1 its usually good
i agree with you on all of that kevin, they are setting it up to be drama giving young fighters all the alcohol they want and filming has nothing to do with mma to me, and than they act like why are these guys idiots? some are but most are just young and to drunk
Your being abit sensative aint you roy? Like Kevin says about contracts (their not forced to drink) Alcohol just brings out the truth in people! Theres nothing wrong with providing drinks for the guys when they have no outside contact. I mean what else are they supposed to do? And if there wasnt any drinks people would say, Dana cant even provide the guys drinks after long days of training. Without some of the drama the show would be boring IMO. I bet you guys are excited to see what happens today right???
How about a phone to check on your kids, wife or mom? Instead of a case of Grey Goose
illphilly, isnt the reason they have no outside contact to keep the info of the show from leaking out? And these guys know by now what the rules are.
i am not sensitive about it, i just don’t realy watch reality soap opera tv, maybe thats what your into. i just think they should concentrate on filming the training and fights.they are not there that long they can go without getting drunk for awhile or just not make that the main thing they air on tv.
I am with you on having enough of the antics in the house. I wish they would show more of the coaches teaching and training the guys. I am more interested in the fighting/training then the damn soap opera going on in the house.
you notice the 1rst 2 episodes ratings were pretty decent, then as soon as they went to the “real world” like shenaningans, everybody getting drunk and acting stupid, the ratings dropped alot. i think most people are getting tired of the “reality” aspect of the show. spike tv and dana white should take notice. alot of the tuf’s have really just been a coaches showcase, trying to build up a fight like nog/mir, so they should focus more on that part of the show, training, coaching, fighting etc. when they show what nog and mir do best the show really shines. as far as the alcohol goes, i dont think they should have it but every once in a while. i know that they are all adults and have a choice, but most of these guys are very young and havent been anywhere outside of their hometown for long and 16 alpha males all in one house mixed with alcohol spells trouble. someone is going to get seriously hurt someday(think the marlon sims/noah thomas backyard brawl) i dont see how letting these guys have books to read, 1 phone call home per week and maybee a movie night is gonna make them less of a fighter. i know some might think that doesnt make for good tv, but niether has what they have been doing or else the ratings wouldnt be lagging. i think spike tv’s editing and producing the show puts the fighters in a negative spotlight. as far as the ratings go it would probably help if they showed it at an earlier time. it’s not like anyone is gonna die from missing another csi rerun.
1 question b.w.
Are you you interested in what happens tonight?
jv, I’m interested in seeing the fight and training…not some douche drink too much and almost drown, sorry that doesn’t interest me.
absolutley! i wouldnt miss it for anything. i havent missed a single episode despite its shortcomings (they do have a free fight at the end, some times 2). the show still needs some changes though.
i will add that i am more interested in who fights who at the end and what the coaches say in-between than i am in seing junie getting drunk again and dana making one of his famous speeches again.
Thats what I mean b.w. kevin and roy, we are interested in what happens tonight! It may not be your cup of tea to see someone get drunk and act stupid. But youll still watch. I like the fact that we get to see what these guys are really like. If they didnt show this stuff, none of us would know Junie’s got problems.
I’ve actually enjoyed this season as well. You’d think the ratings would be better.
Comcast messed up TV guide.
The show hasn’t recorded on my DVD for past two weeks.
a bunch of people missed in Kentucky…actually a ton of them did…insight messed up the TV scheduling so spike on our end was hours off sync with the guides.
I couldn’t watch episode 3 because Comcast had it listed as CSI playing all night on Wednesday on Spike. Then they had TUF listed to air on Thursday at 9:00 pm, so I recorded that time slot. However when I went to watch it, It was a mislabeled show, I had pro wrestling recorded and labeled as TUF. So I missed the episode and I have to wonder how many people this happened to.
YEP - happened to me same thing; I was able to catch rerun on Saturday :+)
Had the same problem in Canada. Shaw messed up the menu and my PVR didnt record on wednesday. But I did catch the rerun on thursday but only becuase I knew it was supposed to be on as the menu was still messed up.
Buckeye cable in Toledo…same thing. Luckily I flipped the TV on toward the end and at least saw the fight.
yep got me too! stupid comcast
I think it is kind of cool. The fighters seem to have a great deal of talent so I am excited to watch it.
The show is lame now….same old, same old.
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that every time people tune into watch TUF 8 they get barraged with MANSWERS commercials that make anyone with half a fucking brain want to turn the TV off.
“IS IT POSSIBLE TO STORE YOUR OWN FARTS IN A FREEZER?!??! UUURRRR ONLY REAL MEN WANT TO FIND OUT URRRRRRR”
Fuck Spike TV.
Hahahaha!!!
lol! the ufc is the ONLY thing i watch on spike.
Andy C: You might want to try the OXGN channel. A TV channel created for women, by women that is dedicated to empowering women to do great things! (I just read that off the channel guide)
Me I’ll take Spike!!!
sure jv you just happened to know the channel, maybe you could invite over for a night of reality tv and soap operas.
Well I do have a woman roy. And she uses the DVR just like I do bro. So yes, unfortunately I do know the channel. But just like in my above post you missed my point.
just messing with ya, i got it
No thanks.
But I get your point.
Still, I think TUF would get a wider audience if they quit treating their viewership like a bunch of fucktard frat boys who are all dying to know how to do dumb shit.
Well I hear you on the dumbsh*t! But I like to watch “trucks” “horsepower tv” things like that. And tonight the UFC Unleashed has Anderson Silva vs Leban, Franklin, and Lutter.
The reason why is because comcasts guide showed that CSI was on or something like that and a lot of people didn’t tune in, they should be blaming comcast
I’ve actually enjoyed this year. I really enjoy hearing from the coaches because they have something to say and they’re about the fighters. It isn’t one coach putting down the other and trying to make themselves look better by dumping on the other. Rampage and Griffin weren’t that bad, but I grew tired of Penn vs. Pulver and Serra vs. Hughes.
I agree 100%
This show is more reality and less MMA now.
First were good IMO, passed that Xbox is more attention getting.
I am not suprised, I personally dont care for the 32 guys who ive never seen or heard of before fighting there way in the house I liked it much better when they already picked the best 16 guys and took it from there with the coaching evaluations.
I mean how dumb is it that two of the 32 guys who WON thier fights were sent home because of injuries sustained in the fight
I personally like the reallity aspect of the show and not just the fights but loading up the booze in the house is old
My Comcast DVR didn’t pick it up either. Comcast also changed the name of the show from Nogueira v Mir, to The Ulimate Fighter. Also, it didnt mark the episode as new
My cable provider had CSI: NY listed all night long on for last Wed with no mention of The Ultimate Fighter.
More drunken antics and embarassment to MMA on the next ULTIMATE FIGHTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
hahahahahahahaha. I like the show, but that was funny.
yeah i agree with you. looks like a good season cant wait til the finale there allways so good.
Agreed. Having a bunch of douche bag fighters get drunk and destroy a house can’t help the sport and its attempts at legitimizing itself. I know there are a few fighters that are taking this opportunity seriously, but they are eclipsed by the fighters pissing on themselves and putting their fists through windows.
Why give these guys a nice place to stay and an alcohol closet FULL of booze? Thats crap. I doubt the Rich Franklin’s and Randy Couture’s of the sport would pull this crap.
100% right!
I don’t know much about tv ratings, but couldn’t the lower ratings be as simple as an error in the on-screen tv listings?
I haven’t missed an episode in 3 years because I rely on my oncreen guide (Comcast) to catch or record my favorite shows. I missed this one. Now with all of the viewers here, including myself, missing that episode because of a listing error, I’d be willing to bet hundreds of thousands of others missed it for the same reason, which led to the drop in the rating.
just read that ufc 93 headlined by franklin vs. henderson might be seen free on spike tv, this will be the best free show to date if the rumor is true, im pretty sure this show would pull in good ratings
no way a three round non title fight between franklin vs henderson (an awsome match up i look forward to) is better than a 5 round title fight between jackson vs henderson in 2007. that was the best free fight offered on spike to date
you also have the return of shogun rua, who will be fighting the returning hof mark coleman who will be making his first foray into the stacked lhw division.
yeah cro cop, jackson, henderson, marcus davis, thats a pretty solid free card
don’t be hating on manswers.
One of the reasons for this was the guides on comcast in certain areas being incorrect.
The show therefore did not record and I bet some people did not watch it.
Tito and Ken was the best choice of coaches out of all seasons.. both Nogueira and Mir are boring as hell, no charisma at all..
It was actually the only time I enjoyed Tito. He really cared about the fighters and making them better.
Agreed. Tito may come across like a self promoting WWE type d-bag but he was phenomenal as a coach.
+1…Tito was the best coach the show has ever seen.
All hail Tito or what? He was a good coach but a couple of his quotes were laughable…”I’m just doing it for these kids man” and “These guys are like my kids”, referring to Bisping and others that are pretty much his age!
A lot of people were having issues with their cable boxes that night. The TV guide on the cable box said CIS was on during that time, and TUF was on at Thursday at 9. I’m sure this screwed a lot of people up. Especially the people that have it DVR’d every week. i.e, me. My cable box DVR’d TNA Impact on Thursday night.
Bastards…
SOMEBODY PLEASE ANSWER THIS FOR ME:
Why give all these athletes TONS of alcohol, and get suprised and act shocked and appalled when they do dumb sh!t? It gets old watching these idiots tear up a nice house every season, yeah …we get it, but why no phone to call your wife/child/mom, but 25 bottles of Grey Goose, Patron, Beer, and all types of other crap. I think people are bored of it
You saw inside the magic closet too huh? What we don’t realize is that a pantry full of booze is really a training aid. haha, cus everyone knows that hard alcohol and hangovers help athletes train and propel their careers…….right?!?
Dana has an answer for that tonight on Episode 4…and the second part of his answer will shed some light on his motives
nice
I can tell you that right now.
DW : Working the spin machine—
“Its about how much F***ing temptation you can resist. How much F***ing discipline do you have? Can you handle the F***ing pressure of being a F***ing fighter?!”
Reality - We need high ratings to capture the casual, newbie MMA fan so we bring alcohol into the mix for some fireworks. Drama = viewership.
I think you pretty much just nailed it.
Really handling the pressure would be turning them lose in Vegas every night, THEN you’d see who was really commited anybody can focus and eat right if you lock them in a house and say “leave and youre fckin out of here”
good synopsis OJR, thats it, but as an alcoholic (3 years sober), I’ll tell you, these guys don’t need extra temptation. they are already secluded, stressed and cut off from their family, stress enough!!!
I’ll drink to that
VEGAS!!!!
Viva Las Vegas!
I’m ready for something new for the MMA crowd…
Do you guys know who is fighting on tonight’s episode?
The show needs new writers to help the stories make sense. They showed Junie making a drunken mess of himself, and the next morning there’s no mention of it. They just show him having cereal. They should have had the guys talking about what they really thought about it, and someone even asking Junie “dude, what the fudge was that all about?” And getting to the bottom of it like we do in the real world. Without this they make it look like no one cares about anything but becoming a “CHAMP” (dumb). Then they show previews of the kid flipping out even worse and we’re supposed to think “oh, now they want to make a big deal of it?” We’re not stupid. Everything significant should be discussed and worked out so that the end focus is on professionalism.
Its total crap im always suprised be how really poor most of the fighters are? for example! that little asian guy who made Hamill a sandwich and slept in his bed? how did he get selected??????? ive had bigger and harder turds! he looked liked a jocky! and fought like one too.
UK V USA SHOULD BE MUCH BETTER
I agree with you sorta. Just like any other programming they need to change it up again. I think it was interesting, the fight into the house concept. It encouraged me to watch the first couple shows. This was normally a time when the strong picked off the weak fighters. The competitions in TUF 1 and 2 were pretty cool but wore the fighters out. How about a WEC TUF. The upper weights in the WEC that are getting slashed get a chance to fight their way into the UFC. Just a thought!
I have Comcast for my cable provider. The guide was wrong and did not say the show was airing
on Wednesday.
Aren’t you guys ready for a new MMA show?
m1 challenge is on hdnet and it is all fighting and its is pretty good.
They need more booze in the house to make the show interesting. LOL! Nothing compares to the first season….
i still watch it every week. what the fuck else is there to watch on tv. i agree its a little over the top cuz half the people on the show should be fuckin pop stars instead of mma fighters but it still beats all the other bullshit thats on. i wanna see that dude christoff and the dude who won last week in the finals for the lhws.
the fact that randy has come back and taken nogs spot as hw champ makes the fight between the 2 coaches after the season not as interesting. the 2 caoches are really only gonna fight for the no 1 contender spot.
Could the ratings have anything to do with the fact that Spike HD mistakenly showed a episode of CSI instead of TUF8 Episode 3?
i blame frank mir that dude is the biggest tool when ever he opens his mouth
I tune in to “Tapout” on Versus since it comes on during the same time slot as TUF. Lately the Tapout guys have been showing more training and MMA-related footage than TUF. I want to see training regiments, drills, and techniques… not a bunch of drunk Alpha males chest bumping.
Last night’s episode of TUF was a travesty. What happened to the RULES about fighting outside The Octagon? Dana White wants to bitch about EliteXC/Kimbo Slice creating a bad image for the sport… well, allowing a white trash loser to get drunk and front snap kick another house-mate - and NOT kicking him off the show - sure isn’t helping to portray MMA in a positive light.