Newton after hitting Lawal (photo via Bellator)

By SPIKE TV and Bellator (via press release)

New York, NY – April 10, 2013 – Spike TV’s debut season Bellator MMA was a ratings success for the network, delivering an average of 861,000 viewers, culminating with 952,000 viewers for its finale event this past Thursday, April 4.  Emanating from venues all around the country, Bellator’s live events on Spike TV improved the timeslot (Thursdays from 10pm-12:00am) in the hard-to-reach male demographic of Men 25-34 by 36% (compared to last year).

Bellator’s shift from MTV2 to Spike TV proved to be a ratings bonanza for the rising MMA league. The most recent season 8 on Spike TV delivered +388% more viewers than Season 7 on MTV 2 and +403% more viewers than Season 6.  Also of note, the weekly encore presentation of the Bellator events drew an average of 336,000 on Thursday night (12:00-2:00am) – thus the weekly cume was an impressive1,197,000 viewers.

Competitively, Bellator MMA consistently placed in the top 10 in cable among Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 in the timeslot. For the live finale last week, Bellator placed #6 with Men 18-49 with a 0.7 rating. Also, Bellator’s April 4 event was a hit on social media as it ranked #5 on cable for tweets during episode airtime, the highest during this season.

“As the television home of mixed martial arts, we were thrilled to deliver to our fans an exciting, action-packed live Bellator event each week with the compelling story-telling and high production values viewers expect from Spike,” said Kevin Kay, President, Spike TV.

“The response from fans on television and in-arena was tremendous this season,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Our partners at Spike have given Bellator an enormous platform to showcase some of the best mixed martial arts on the planet.  And…this is just the beginning”