Fast overnight ratings are out for Strikeforce. The overnights only measure the ratings from 8:00pm to 11:00pm, which means the numbers contained do not include the main event of the show. The main event started at about 11:02, so the entire main event was in the overrun, which was not measured here.
But the fight was more interesting than the ratings which were not through the roof (though on par with previous MMA bouts that CBS has aired, like the one with Kimbo-Slice), keeping in mind that the post 11pm portion I haven’t seen yet will be higher, from 9p-11pm it averaged 3.79 million and a 1.7/6 rating share with adults 18-49. It did win the 10pm-11pm hour with adults 18-49 and had better results with men 18-34 where it won every half hour. Here are the ratings notes via CBS…
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 3.50 million (#4), A18-49: 1.5/ 5 (#3) 9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 3.53 million (#4), A18-49: 1.6/ 5 (#2) 10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 4.12 million (#3), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#1) 10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 4.01 million (#3), A18-49: 1.8/ 6 (#1).
Even without the overrun, it looks like the show came in much stronger than Lawler-Smith but below the Kimbo Slice shows. The first Kimbo show really benefitted from a long overrun and a 15 minute fight that went so far over that it infuriated local CBS news affiliate.
The overrun number is really the key number; everyone wants to see how Fedor did in terms of viewership. The current numbers don’t tell us much about that, so we’ll have to wait another day or two to find out. Be very skeptical of anyone out there calling this a disaster until we see the overrun. This show was built entirely around one fight, the main event, and did not have someone like Gina Carano to push up numbers in the co-main event.