TUF Season 16 episode 4 finally brought some good news for both the UFC and FX on the ratings front with an average of 1.1 million viewers tuning in for Friday night’s episode.
That’s the first time TUF 16 has broken the one million barrier this season and a jump of 325,000 viewers from the previous weeks episode.
Why the sudden jump? Well, the latest episode of TUF followed on from the two hour live ‘UFC On FX 5’ show on the same station, so it appears that helped kickstart the ratings.
It’s interesting as it reminds me that in the Spike TV days there would often be a live show proceeding the debut of a new season of TUF, but it’s so far been something that’s not been carried over to the FX channel.
In hindsight that seems like a mistake, particularly in light of Friday’s results as this would appear to be the best way to get the premiere off to a solid start and make sure that fans are aware that a new season is getting underway.
Nevertheless, hopefully some of those who tuned in on Friday will stick around in the coming weeks to help arrest what’s been alarming slide in the ratings since TUF began airing on FX in January.
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TUF 16 Ratings So Far:
The Ultimate Fighter 16 episode No. 1: 947,000 viewers
The Ultimate Fighter 16 episode No. 2: 872,000 viewers
The Ultimate Fighter 16 episode No. 3: 775,000 viewers
The Ultimate Fighter 16 episode No. 4: 1.1 million viewers
