Spike’s 'Bellator 138' Sets Network Ratings Record

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Spike’s Bellator 138 mixed martial arts card featuring the Kimbo Slice-Ken Shamrock main event Friday night pinned down a record 1.6 million viewers for the network.

The card was the most watched Bellator event in Spike history, while the Slice-Shamrock fight was the highest rated and most watched Bellator MMA fight ever, delivering 2.1 million viewers.

 The previous high for a Bellator fight was 1.8 million viewers generated by the Nov. 14, 2014 Tito Ortiz-Stephan Bonnar fight during Bellator 131 event, which also held the most watched Bellator event with 1.2 million viewers overall, said network officials.   

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.