With the NBA and NHL playoffs in full swing, the eighth episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 11" took a dip in ratings and was the least-viewed episode of the season.
Despite the dropoff, this week's new installment of the Spike TV reality series, which hosted the season's historic wild-card fight and first quarterfinal bout, still drew an impressive 1.0 household rating and an average audience of 1.3 million viewers, officials today announced.
Among basic cable stations, the show ranked second in its timeslot with men 18-49 and men 18-34, trailing only the NBA playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns, which drew a whopping 7 million viewers.
"TUF 11" features Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz as coaches overseeing 28 middleweight fighters. Episode No. 8 saw a wild-card matchup between Team Ortiz fighters Kyacey Uscola and Kris McCray. That bout was followed by the season's first quarterfinal bout between Court McGee and injury replacement James Hammortree.
As is typical with "TUF" episodes, ratings increased from a .91 rating in the opening 15 minutes to a 1.05 in the third quarter-hour figure. The number did dip slightly in the fourth quarter-hour to a 1.02
Spike TV, which has hosted the series since its debut in 2005, is available in 98.6 million homes.
Season ratings include:
* "TUF 11" episode No. 8 (May 19): 1.3 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 7 (May 12): 1.8 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 6 (May 5): 1.7 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 5 (April 28): 1.8 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 4 (April 21): 2.0 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 3 (April 14): 1.6 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 2 (April 7): 1.5 million viewers
* "TUF 11" episode No. 1 (March 31): 1.9 million viewers
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/19225/spike-t ... e-no-8.mma