Bellator’s season eight finale on Spike TV last week once again showed improved live + 3 (DVR) numbers.
Last weeks Bellator 95, which live rating was tied for the second highest of the season, had an overall DVR increase of about 5%.
This rise brought the show to a grand viewership total of 952k thanks to the live + 3 (DVR) numbers that were released today.
This increase also brings the season eight total viewership average (with DVR) to 850k total live + 3 (DVR). It should also be noted that the overall average household rating for the season is below 0.6.
Last weeks Bellator once again went head-to-head with FX’s Archer, MTV’s Ridiculousness and a very strong NBA on TNT. Overall, this was a great number to finish off the seasons DVR ratings and at this rate it looks like the fans will be itching for the Summer Series and Fight Master to hit Spike TV airwaves.
Spike TV also distributed a press release today outlining the ratings for season 8. Here are some key takeaways:
- Bellator’s live events on Spike TV improved the timeslot (Thursdays from 10pm-12:00am) in the male demographic of Men 25-34 by 36% (compared to last year)
- Bellator Season 8 on Spike TV delivered +388% more viewers than Season 7 on MTV2 and +403% more viewers than Season 6.
- The weekly encore presentation of the Bellator events drew an average of 336,000 on Thursday night (12:00-2:00am) with the weekly cume being 1,197,000 viewers
- For the live finale last week, Bellator placed #6 with Men 18-49 with a 0.7 rating
- Bellator’s April 4 event ranked #5 on cable for tweets during episode airtime, the highest during this season
“As the television home of mixed martial arts, we were thrilled to deliver to our fans an exciting, action-packed live Bellator event each week with the compelling story-telling and high production values viewers expect from Spike,” said Kevin Kay, President, Spike TV.
I will have a more formal breakdown of the entire season eight history and some history dating back to MTV2 in an upcoming article. Keep checking back on TheMMAReport.com for that.
Lastly, as a reminder, Bellator 95’s ratings adjustments was due to the live + 3 (DVR) numbers which will be released every Tuesday. For those new to Nielsen ratings terminology, live + 3 is a equal to a total of live viewership plus 3 days worth of DVR usage.
Stay with TheMMAReport.com for ongoing coverage of the Nielsen ratings battle between Bellator MMA and the UFC.