Viacom possibly moving Bellator to CMT.

[FrankieNYC]

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.

-

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 7-8m less homes than Paramount, but does less of a % of ratings.

PS:
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.

 

[VIP1349]

Half the shows they been putting on lately belong on CMT. Maybe just do the small ones there and save the bigger shows for Paramount or some shit.

 

[mime]

Half the shows they been putting on lately belong on CMT. Maybe just do the small ones there and save the bigger shows for Paramount or some shit.

I'm okay with, also have like an hour of undercard fights on cmt. Maybe freakshow fights with country music stars too. More Reba commercials also. Smokey mountain barbeque!

 

[cutch]

CBS/Showtime look like they will merge again with Viacom, it would make more sense to have Bellator on Showtime, say 8 Saturday events and 8 challenger series on Fridays like Strikeforce used to do, Showtime knows how to promote Combat Sports. They won't draw millions but between 500_000-a million is very good on Showtime.

 

[Gambit MMA]

Damn shame....UFC is suffocating the market. Bellator should honestly cut the amount of shows they do to like 6 events a year maybe

 

[Kuggk]

Please no

 

[CC27]

That sounds like a death sentence to me.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Damn shame....UFC is suffocating the market. Bellator should honestly cut the amount of shows they do to like 6 events a year maybe

They would have to kill most of the roster
That is a total of 30 main card fights

 

[CC27]

Only way I think they survive is like cutch said if they can get on Showtime/CBS with the merger.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Only way I think they survive is like cutch said if they can get on Showtime/CBS with the merger.

I think they would survive on CMT.
They just need to reign-in the over-spending
But I do like the idea of a big card on SHO every 3-6 months

 

[Danespina]

For all Bellators investments, they rarely put on a high value show which you can assume will draw well.

I actually watched the last 3-4 Bellator events live, and all of them felt low stakes, minimal crowd interest, with one or two pretty good names but placed in uninspiring matches.

I'll be tuning into Fedor/Mir next week, but even that I feel should have a bit better support to make it feel more 'must-see'. They need that event to deliver.

 

[FrankieNYC]

CBS/Showtime look like they will merge again with Viacom, it would make more sense to have Bellator on Showtime, say 8 Saturday events and 8 challenger series on Fridays like Strikeforce used to do, Showtime knows how to promote Combat Sports. They won't draw millions but between 500_000-a million is very good on Showtime.

Excellent post & idea

 

[GueseGuy]

CBS/Showtime look like they will merge again with Viacom, it would make more sense to have Bellator on Showtime, say 8 Saturday events and 8 challenger series on Fridays like Strikeforce used to do, Showtime knows how to promote Combat Sports. They won't draw millions but between 500_000-a million is very good on Showtime.

This could be key. If Bellator can get to Showtime and let Showtime promote it like how they do boxing, Bellator will be much better off. Viacom and Paramount Network do not know how to promote mma in 2018. Point blank. They’re stuck in 2007.

 

[Rizz]

I don't know how else they saw this going. I can understand overspending for draws but Bellator overspends for fighters who have never been even close to being considered draws. Rory, Phil, Bader and Moose are really good fighters but if you overspend on them you are not going to make your money back. Rampage and Fedor are on a whole different level. Those guys are known to command a lot of money. Fedor has never been a draw in the US and Rampage has stopped being a draw for a long time. A lot of people praise Coker as a promoter but he has never been smart with money. This is a big reason why Strikeforce sold to the UFC.

The sad part is that Bellator had a lot of momentum due to how bad the Reebok deal was and they pretty much threw it all away. WME saw that they would be having a valley in MMA popularity due to their big draws losing or not fighting. So they cut costs dramatically. This allowed them to still make a profit while having a bad year. Bellator stupidly spent more during a down period on fighters who are not draws.

 

[Bubba32]

CBS/Showtime look like they will merge again with Viacom, it would make more sense to have Bellator on Showtime, say 8 Saturday events and 8 challenger series on Fridays like Strikeforce used to do, Showtime knows how to promote Combat Sports. They won't draw millions but between 500_000-a million is very good on Showtime.

If the original home of the UFC couldnt make it work how is showtime going to do it?

CMT is also a death sentence as poster above said.

I cant believe how they fucked this up so badly. Who the hell is telling them to run 20 plus events a year?

If they had just went to a smaller schedule the events could have felt bigger with more excitement.

 

[FrankieNYC]

I don't know how else they saw this going. I can understand overspending for draws but Bellator overspends for fighters who have never been even close to being considered draws. Rory, Phil, Bader and Moose are really good fighters but if you overspend on them you are not going to make your money back. Rampage and Fedor are on a whole different level. Those guys are known to be command a lot of money. Fedor has never been a draw in the US and Rampage has stopped being a draw for a long time. A lot of people praise Coker as a promoter but he has never been smart with money. This is a big reason why Strikeforce sold to the UFC.

The sad part is that Bellator had a lot of momentum due to how bad the Reebok deal was and they pretty much threw it all away. WME saw that they would be having a valley in MMA popularity due to their big draws losing or not fighting. So they cut costs dramatically. This allowed them to still make a profit while having a bad year. Bellator stupidly spent more during a down period on fighters who are not draws.

Spot on ... great post.
WME looks at UFC as a business. They are not in it because they love MMA.
Coker's love of MMA is bigger than his business acumen sadly

 

[FrankieNYC]

I cant believe how they fucked this up so badly. Who the hell is telling them to run 20 plus events a year?

If they had just went to a smaller schedule the events could have felt bigger with more excitement.

Coker convinced them they could be a rival to UFC.
A few spike/Viacom execs still hate UFC for bailing & he played off that.
Sadly the HW tourney is the big gamble again.
Hopefully it does numbers.

 

[Bubba32]

Coker convinced them they could be a rival to UFC.
A few spike/Viacom execs still hate UFC for bailing & he played off that.
Sadly the HW tourney is the big gamble again.
Hopefully it does numbers.

didnt coker do a HW tourney right before SF went under too?

this guy doesnt learn.

 

[irish_thug]

I think they would survive on CMT.
They just need to reign-in the over-spending
But I do like the idea of a big card on SHO every 3-6 months

I miss MMA on Showtime. And Coker has a history there.

 

[FrankieNYC]

didnt coker do a HW tourney right before SF went under too?

this guy doesnt learn.

Yes, it was the last ditch effort there as well