The tepid TV ratings garnered on FUEL TV for "Countdown to UFC 141" don't worry UFC president Dana White.
The preview shows have often been used to gauge the potential success of a pay-per-view event, and with the latest episode attracting just 15,000 eyeballs, it suggests a beating at the till despite the presence of blockbuster draw Brock Lesnar.
"It wasn't alarming at all," White told MMAjunkie.com (
UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). "Those are the type of ratings that network pulls."
UFC 141, which takes place Friday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, marks the first appearance of Lesnar since he ceded the heavyweight title to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. A return against Junior Dos Santos was sacked by a second bout with diverticulitis.
"Countdown to UFC 141" was the first preview show to be featured on the FUEL TV as the promotion's six-year relationship with Spike TV comes to a close in 2011.
Episodes of "Countdown" that aired this year on the Viacom-owned Spike TV drew a debut average of 500,000 viewers. Of course, the cable channel is available in nearly 100 million homes, whereas FOX affiliate FUEL TV is currently available in approximately 36 million.
That's where the fans come in, according to White. Since the announcement of a seven-year broadcast deal between FOX and the UFC, the affiliate's subscriber base has jumped 11 percent on the strength of fans requesting the channel from their cable companies, said executives from both companies.
FUEL TV is currently a premium channel on the offerings of most cable providers, and thus more expensive. White, however, hinted at a deal to be announced in the next month that would further widen the broadcast footprint of the FOX affilliate.
"That's what we're working on right now; we're working with (FUEL TV executive vice president and general manager George) Greenberg," he said. "We're going to fix all that. FUEL TV is going to become a big network over the next few years."
If history is any indication, the presence of Lesnar will offset the visibility issues presented by promoting a pay-per-view card on a relatively small platform. Whether that changes down the road is anyone's guess, but White said it won't be long before FUEL is spoken of in the same breath as channels such as Spike.
"When we did this deal with FOX, we had to do a deal with one of these major companies that have all these (affiliates) because we have so much content that we have to distribute," he said. "And all that content ... there's so much crazy content going on FUEL.
"Those numbers will build. We're going to build that network and I can't explain to you guys – this is no [expletive], I'm not trying to hype anything – I am so pumped for January to come and to dive into this deal and start working. The numbers weren't alarming; they were exactly the amount you'd expect for those guys to have.
"I lay in bed ... I have DirecTV and Cox Cable. What's that, [expletive] 2,000 channels? And nothing's on. I'm laying there, I've got every single movie channel and everything you can have, and I'm sitting there going, how can I have 2,000 channels and nothing on TV that I want to watch?
"As far as our fanbase goes and the amount of content we're going to have on FUEL TV, people are going to want it and people are going to demand it."
