Viacom possibly moving Bellator to CMT.

[FrankieNYC]

FYI: I talked to @Wild in advance about posting this & he said to go for it.

As some know, I do have some nice "sources" regarding the business end of MMA.
I was away for a month, but since I been back, I been snooping around.
I asked one, why Viacom simulcast Bellator on CMT (as well as TPN) & received an interesting response.

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I was told that due to Bellator losing money in 2017, that they look at 2018 as a make/break for investing more in Bellator.
With over-all MMA interest down, Bellator did not re-coup their added investment from the last two years of signings & most know the PPV lost millions.
The Paramount Network has gone up in viewership, but sadly Bellator has not.
So they decided to simulcast on CMT to gauge potential reaction.
The last combined broadcast did 400k
Supposedly Coker's HW Tourney is his big attempt at changing the tide.
Also signing Chuck is part of that strategy, but Viacom is being tighter with the checkbook.

They feel that if they could do 75% of the ratings they do on TPN (on CMT) that it is a smarter programming decision

-

The simulcast never made sense to me, until this reply.

Here is some info (for those interested)

In Feb:
Paramount Network was #29 on cable, CMT was #47
FS1 was #41 as a barometer
CMT is in about 6-7m less homes than Paramount, but does less of a % of ratings.

 

[FrankieNYC]

I wanted to add that Bellator grossed about $20m in 2017 & according to John Nash (& others), they were in the red.

But ...
When the TV station owns the production, creative bookkeeping can be in play.
I don't mean anything scammy, but what money gets put under what umbrella can be tricky.

Ex: Nobody know the exact amount Viacom pays Bellator for broadcast content. They could be under or over paying them to help the bottom-line of Viacom's.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Approx reach of homes per network:

Paramount: 93m
CMT: 86m
Fox Sports 1: 84m

 

[FrankieNYC]

Personally my opinion is, they will be in 9% less homes, but I think they would do comparable ratings (over 75%) that they do now.
While a bigger network is always better, MMA is such a niche that I doubt many just watch it because of the network.
I'm assuming budget cuts will occur, but they would have anyway.
Only issue I have is the stigma of being on a "country" platform. Maybe that is something Viacom wants for Bellator?

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

I wanted to add that Bellator grossed about $20m in 2017 & according to John Nash (& others), they were in the red.

But ...
When the TV station owns the production, creative bookkeeping can be in play.
I don't mean anything scammy, but what money gets put under what umbrella can be tricky.

Ex: Nobody know the exact amount Viacom pays Bellator for broadcast content. They could be under or over paying them to help the bottom-line of Viacom's.

Nice to have ya back bro. Quality posters are gettin kinda thin in this joint.
I was wondering where you've been. Thought maybe we had been to naughty
latley and you bailed.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Nice to have ya back bro. Quality posters are gettin kinda thin in this joint.
I was wondering where you've been. Thought maybe we had been to naughty
latley and you bailed.

Nah, I was in hospital since 4/2
Going back next week
I posted it somewhere on here that I wouldn't be on (maybe UFC/TV thread)
I wouldn't bail over a few nitwits that have issues

But much appreciated.

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

Nah, I was in hospital since 4/2
Going back next week
I posted it somewhere on here that I wouldn't be on (maybe UFC/TV thread)
I wouldn't bail over a few nitwits that have issues

But much appreciated.

Ahh I missed the post then. Speedy recovery wishes headed your way...

 

[FrankieNYC]

On SD, a member brought up an interesting possibility of airing big cards on SHO, if SHO/Viacom get into bed together.
I like that a lot
2-4 cards a year to built to on SHO & the rest on CMT, might be better than it is now

 

[Haulport]

Thanks @FrankieNYC !!!

Very interesting post. I feel that Coker is doing just a terrible, terrible job with Bellator, so the 2017 news does not surprise me.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Thanks @FrankieNYC !!!

Very interesting post. I feel that Coker is doing just a terrible, terrible job with Bellator, so the 2017 news does not surprise me.

You got it man
I couldn't understand why Viacom would purposely hurt Paramount's ratings like that, so it makes perfect sense.
Hopefully if they do move to CMT, they can do tentpole events on SHO (if the merger occurs)

PS: I don't think Coker is doing terrible by a fans perspective. I just don't think he has the business acumen to run a company solo.
While i hate that he makes fighters sell tix, I think if Viacom stops that BS, Coker is a pretty positive guy to be the face of an MMA org. I just think his history of over-spending for name guys hurts the bottom-line.
if they could have someone as a partner & Coker does creative while the other does the business, it would be killer.

 

[Wild]

They need to get far away from Paramount. Since they rebranded, they seem to be trying to target different audiences than Spike did.

 

[Pitbull9]

Well that sucks. They need a real station to be on that will drive viewers. This station is the opposite of what Spike was and people are not tuning in. Also Coker isnt running it properly. He is trying to do the same thing over and over expecting better results and it is not happening. You cant run Bellator like a traditional MMA promotion. You need something interesting to change the game, Im not sure the tournament format is the best way but if you can get a legit one going and promote it right, and use active fighters not just names and veterans you may be able to get something going. You also need to promote the fighters better and start a "day in the life" series or something like that. People need to be invested and interested.

 

[Lukewarm Carl]

Personally my opinion is, they will be in 9% less homes, but I think they would do comparable ratings (over 75%) that they do now.
While a bigger network is always better, MMA is such a niche that I doubt many just watch it because of the network.
I'm assuming budget cuts will occur, but they would have anyway.
Only issue I have is the stigma of being on a "country" platform. Maybe that is something Viacom wants for Bellator?

Do you have any info on general demographics for MMA fans? I'd be willing to bet that it's a predominantly white audience and suffice to say that CMT is almost strictly a white audience.


Maybe this is just an attempt to sell strictly to the low hanging fruit.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

This could work, if CMT goes all in and a) shows more content than just the fights (countdown shows, clips of past shows, etc) and b) airs the f'n prelims as well.

 

[RaginCajun]

Do you have any info on general demographics for MMA fans? I'd be willing to bet that it's a predominantly white audience and suffice to say that CMT is almost strictly a white audience.


Maybe this is just an attempt to sell strictly to the low hanging fruit.

From my understanding, the typical MMA fan is a millionaire king of men genius with a 2 foot dick.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Do you have any info on general demographics for MMA fans? I'd be willing to bet that it's a predominantly white audience and suffice to say that CMT is almost strictly a white audience.

There was info on UFC demos from a year or so ago, but sadly I do not remember the specifics, but I agree with your post as a possibility why it might be a fit.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Figured I'd add this here.
Dave Meltzer emailed me and said he hasn't heard the reason for the simulcasting, but said Viacom are having issues with Bellator's ratings drop.

 

[Robbie Hart]

Figured I'd add this here.
Dave Meltzer emailed me and said he hasn't heard the reason for the simulcasting, but said Viacom are having issues with Bellator's ratings drop.

Wishing you all the best with your hospital stay man.......

 

[FrankieNYC]

This could work, if CMT goes all in and a) shows more content than just the fights (countdown shows, clips of past shows, etc) and b) airs the f'n prelims as well.

I agree
I am more optimistic than most (on here & SD) about it.
If Bellator needs to rebuild & re-assess, doing it on CMT is not a bad place to do so..

Here is a quote from a Viacom exec:
“We wanted to create a destination for premium scripted programing on cable,” says Kay. “We were Spike for 14 years and [we] did a lot of great things. But one of the big obstacles was [broadening] from being just a network for men.”

That doesn't seem like a fit, IMO

 

[Ted Williams' head]

I've always liked Bellator and I'm happy guys have another place to go besides UFC.

But I think they've gotten extremely stale. They have some great talent but they are relying to heavily on old stars and freak shows who just don't deliver when the cage door closes.

 

[MMAHAWK]

I've always liked Bellator and I'm happy guys have another place to go besides UFC.

But I think they've gotten extremely stale. They have some great talent but they are relying to heavily on old stars and freak shows who just don't deliver when the cage door closes.

By relying on freak shows you mean 2 years and 50 events ago when Kimbo fought DADA?

 

[Wild]

By relying on freak shows you mean 2 years and 50 events ago when Kimbo fought DADA?

True. They simply don't do many freak show fights now. Hell, IMO they need to do more! It obviously gets people interested.

 

[MMAHAWK]

True. They simply don't do many freak show fights now. Hell, IMO they need to do more! It obviously gets people interested.

There simply may no longer be a big enough fan base to support 2 top end straight forward organizations. Freak shows, One night tournaments, and mixed events should all be used if it gets views.

 

[Ted Williams' head]

By relying on freak shows you mean 2 years and 50 events ago when Kimbo fought DADA?

That's 100% what I meant (RIP Dada) by that, it's why I added the "freak show" part in. I know many people disagreed with me here at the time, but I felt and continue to feel that that was a very damaging night for Bellator.

But I did say "old stars and freak shows". Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei, Crocop, Fedor, etc... I mean these guys are far past their expiration date, and Bellator is trying to build a company around them.

it gives fans the impression that Bellator is where old washed up fighters go to die. It's not good!

 

[IschKabibble]

I'd rather watch bro-tier commercials than country western.