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First, Smackdown To My Network, And Now This...

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

CBS will begin airing mixed martial-arts matches in prime time on four Saturday nights a year.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hSvhYTTOdIpNNluc_L2QuJJ7WkRwD8V3F1N80

Excerpt:
"Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and a wildly popular entertainment vehicle for upscale, young adult audiences," Kelly Kahl, CBS Primetime's senior executive vice president, said in a release.

Yeah, good luck trying to pull those young kids who concentrate on watching TV the very least on Saturday nights. I know it's not a popular night for television, but at least put it on Friday nights to compete against Smackdown, which will be on a network with way smaller reach than CBS.
 
WOW!

I first heard it on Jim Rome, and it stunned me.

I thought the UFC would be on their first but maybe this is a "test" run to see if MMA can work on a real over-the-air network.
 
Actually, the UFC's already on MyNetwork TV, or so I thought. I know when WATL-36 in Atlanta changed from a defunct WB to MyNetwork affiliate, they used to air UFC Wired on Monday nights (I think). Now, they run UFC Wired on the weekends, as well as on WXIA-TV 11 Alive, since Gannett owns both now.
 
DToTheJ said:
Yeah, good luck trying to pull those young kids who concentrate on watching TV the very least on Saturday nights. I know it's not a popular night for television, but at least put it on Friday nights to compete against Smackdown, which will be on a network with way smaller reach than CBS.
Click to expand...

This won't be a regular series of weekly fights. IIRC, it will be four live events in primetime a year. EliteXC isn't trying to go after the pro wrestling crowd.

Also, Saturday nights are only a 'death slot' for new scripted shows, which is why the networks haven't programmed any here for years. The fights will essentially be TV sports specials, and live sports are a good bet on weekends. Hype the fights during male skewing programming on CBS, and they become appointment television for one Saturday night--at home or at a sports bar.
 
oldvnewschool said:
I thought the UFC would be on their first but maybe this is a "test" run to see if MMA can work on a real over-the-air network.
Click to expand...

If I recall reading the article correctly, CBS originally negotiated with the UFC for this kind of programming pact, but talks broke down.
 
Nate Wesley said:
Also, Saturday nights are only a 'death slot' for new scripted shows, which is why the networks haven't programmed any here for years. The fights will essentially be TV sports specials, and live sports are a good bet on weekends. Hype the fights during male skewing programming on CBS, and they become appointment television for one Saturday night--at home or at a sports bar.
Click to expand...

Exactly! CBS can't go wrong here. If it gives them a slight bump for them on these nights, all the better.
 
OhReally? said:
Exactly! CBS can't go wrong here. If it gives them a slight bump for them on these nights, all the better.
Click to expand...

They'll hype the heck out of them during SEC football telecasts and NCAA basketball games.
 
Saturday Nights for CBS mostly been Crime Saturday's or whatever CBS calls it. Where they show reruns of crime shows like CSI:, NCIS, etc.
 
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