Spike Garners Knockout Ratings With Bellator Telecast

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Spike TV’s live Bellator 131 mixed martial arts telecast this past Saturday drew big ratings, averaging 1.2 million viewers for its three hour telecast.

The fight card’s main event bout between Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar drew 1.8 million viewers, making it the most watched MMA fight on cable this year, according to Spike officials. The fight card’s 1.2 million viewers was the most watched Bellator MMA event on Spike TV ever, said the network.

"Bellator 131 was an incredible event that had something for everybody, and I'm thrilled to see our efforts were so well-received by our fans,” said recently named Bellator president Scott Coker in a statement. “I'm very proud of our entire Bellator and Spike family for all of the hard work they put resulting in these record-breaking ratings.”

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.