Jonathan Snowden suggests here that UFC Primetime is the next big thing for the UFC and a potential replacement for The Ultimate Fighter:
As The Ultimate Fighter’s ratings continue a precipitous decline, now down 36 percent from their Tito Ortizand Ken Shamrock fueled heights, Zuffa has quietly been searching for replacement programming to take over as their flagship show on Spike TV.
Despite the success of live fight specials, that couldn’t be the answer long term. The shows are simply too draining on the entire staff, not to mention a fight roster and audience already worn thin by an increasing barrage of MMA on television and pay per view. At a certain point, panic began to set in. “We really don’t know what we’re going to do when The Ultimate Fighter runs its course,” one UFC insider told me backstage at UFC 91. Now they know. Forget Brock Lesnar. UFC: Primetime is the next big thing.
I loved the program too, and think with improvements it can be even better. The potential of running the Primetime concept every month for one or two upcoming fights for back to back half hour programs would be an expensive replacement for TUF, but it would at least give fans real insight into the lives of the stars they watch rather than forced drama in the house.
I have my doubts that it would sustain ratings strength. Countdown shows have never done as well as TUF, and Inside the UFC dropped so badly in the ratings that they cancelled it due to costs. There’s something about providing actual fights where fans don’t know the outcome that brings the audience in.
I don’t think we will ever see a live weekly fights show. It would further water down the product, and perhaps make people start skipping PPV shows. Unlike WWE they cant have their top stars fighting weekly, I don’t think the show would be worth the immense time and effort.
I think a good compromise between these ideas would be to run UFC Primetime type specials 5 or 6 times a year, and do one free UFN per month on Spike. Fans would get their fix of live fights to tune into every month, and they would continue to get the kind of valuable insight into fighters that a show like this brings to the table. Would it be expensive? yes. Would it be worth money that Zuffa can certainly spare? I think so.
When people talk about the cost of the show and whether it will be worth it, I have no doubt it will bring in enough buys. The real value of a show like this is long term. Both men are going to emerge from this in-depth look at their lives as legends in the eyes of fans. Both men are such great characters that even the loser will still be a superstar. If you were running this program for 6 fights a year, the audience would be very connected with 12 fighters (assuming no duplicates), and there is immense long term value in that.