CHICAGO, Ill. (April 19, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships made its FOX Sports Net debut April 8th as FSN’s highest-rated national program on both Thursday and Sunday night. The Thursday premiere lifted the network’s prime time ratings by an impressive 60 percent compared to the same time period average in the 2nd Quarter of 2009. In addition, the Bellator 13 re-air was also up 57 percent from the 2nd Quarter time period average on Sundays.
Bellator 13 from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., was the highest-rated program nationally distributed by FSN on Thursday, April 8th and Sunday, April 11th.
The show was especially successful in attracting males under the age of 54 to the network. Bellator 13:
– Increased FSN’s Thursday night 18-34 male audience by 143 percent;
– Increased FSN’s Thursday night 18-49 male audience by 153 percent; and
– Increased FSN’s Thursday night 25-54 male audience by 180 percent.
Bellator also showed the ability to draw strong local ratings for individual FSN affiliates. For example, Bellator 13 drew a .85 local rating for FSN Pittsburgh, where the event aired live and in prime time.
“In our first week on FOX Sports Net, we were able to drive a substantial increase in viewership to the network nationally,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “We are confident that working with FSN, together we can significantly build upon this strong foundation. My focus from day #1 has been to produce and promote compelling, competitive tournament based MMA programming designed to appeal to MMA fans just like me. My belief is that our tournament format, combined with great fights, world class fighters and strong attention to production quality will continue to increase viewer support for our events on Fox Sports Net.”
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator.