Wednesday's season debut of "The Ultimate Fighter 14" – the final season of the reality series to air on Spike TV – earned a 1.1 household rating and averaged 1.5 million viewers.
Spike TV officials today emailed the the ratings information to MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com).
The two-hour broadcast was the No. 1 rated cable program in its timeslot among men 18-49 and men 18-34. It was also the No. 2 program all day among men 18-49.
The ratings were on par with past seasons of the long-running reality-competition series. The "TUF 13" debut scored 1.5 million viewers, "TUF 12" drew 1.6 million, and "TUF 11" scored scored 1.9 million. A heavily anticipated heavyweights-only 10th season shattered records with 4.1 million viewers for its debut in 2010.
This season features Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller as coaches. For the first time ever, the show spotlights bantamweight and featherweights fighters. An initial group of 32 was whittled down to 16 as part of the episode-long elimination round fights. Those 16 winners are now official cast members.
Spike TV began airing "TUF" in early 2005, but as part of the UFC's mega-deal with FOX, the series moves to FX in 2012.
Spike TV is available in approximately 100 million homes.
Source - MMAJunkie