The final ratings are in for Saturday's Strikeforce: Fedor v. Rogers event. The initial numbers were out on Sunday but the overnights didn't account for the show overrunning it's 2 hour timeslot. The main event did not start until after 11:00pm Eastern. MMA Fanhouse with the final rating numbers:
The final Nielsen ratings are in and 5.46 million viewers tuned in Saturday to watch Strikeforce and M-1 Global's main event between Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers from 11:00 pm to 11:15 pm ET on CBS, FanHouse has learned.
The numbers for the entire Saturday Night Fights broadcast, which includes Jake Shields vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva, earned the network at 2.5 rating for 4.042 million viewers from 9:00 pm to 11:24 pm ET.
A lot of people will try to downplay these numbers with statements like "this doesn't factor in people tuning in for the news" but the truth is, anyone who turned the fight on and watched it counts. Someone tuning in for the news and ending up watching the fight is just as good (if not better) than someone actively seeking it out. Anyone that saw the fight has the ability to talk about the fight and that is what you want as a promotion.