The Ratings Game for Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers

On Saturday night Strikeforce will make its debut on network television.

A lot has already been written about CBS and Strikeforce's attempt to lower expectations on the ratings front, but WKR thought it would be prudent to post the numbers that CBS will be using as a comparison for Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers.

First, CBS will be comparing the fight to what a typical Saturday night on network television.

CBS ratings for October 25th 
     - 8:00pm - 3.76 million viewers
     - 9:00pm - 5.04 million viewers
     - 10:00pm - 6.49 million viewers

The other metric for comparison will be EliteXC's three CBS events.

EliteXC on CBS ratings
    - EliteXC: Primetime - 6.51 million viewers, Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson - 7.281 million viewers.
    - EliteXC: Unfinished Business - 2.62 million viewers.
    - EliteXC: Heat - 4.3 million viewers, Seth Petruzelli vs. Kimbo Slice - 6.451 million viewers.

Strikeforce will be hoping to do better than EliteXC: Unfinished Business and will most likely be content with 3.0-3.5 million viewers. CBS will want also want the Strikeforce card to do better than the Unfinished Business but they will also hope for a stronger showing (not Kimbo levels though) to justify their commitment to MMA.

Remember, CBS as a whole isn't sold on MMA. Broadcasting MMA is really an attempt by CBS to attract younger viewers as CBS has the oldest viewing audience when compared to the other three networks.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers