Bad news for ufc fans

dave1982

No more ufc on bravo:mad:
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5480&zoneid=2http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5480&zoneid=2

Movin up in the world. I for one will be signing up ti Sinatra Sports tomorrow.

Fozzy

It's not until July that Bravo will stop showing UFC events though

dave1982

Fozzy wrote: »

It's not until July that Bravo will stop showing UFC events though

Least we get US events live:D

Nothingcompares

dave1982 wrote: »

Least we get US events live:D

Live at 3am and the like?

Fozzy

Yeah, they'd be on from 1-4am. Hopefully repeated as well

Colm_OReilly

I believe this is the correct link.

droc

It could be good news really. It will mean more income for the UFC in Europe, which should mean an increased (or at least maintained) budget. They're running UK shows at a loss right now, but they won't do that forever.

DROC

Vince135792003

Great news to have the fights live even if you have to tape them. Setanta have got alot of good stuff on their channels right now.

dunkamania

time to upgrade my digital package or just get one of those box yokes.

Do setanta show much adds, those Bravo add breaks are ridiculous

Barry.Commins

dunkamania wrote: »

time to upgrade my digital package or just get one of those box yokes.

Do setanta show much adds, those Bravo add breaks are ridiculous

Well if Setanta are showing the events live, they'll probably have to take the ad breaks at whatever time the UFC schedules them for US tv. I can't remember from the last one they showed, but I don't think it's as bad as Bravo.

Vince135792003

dunkamania wrote: »

Do setanta show much adds, those Bravo add breaks are ridiculous

No ads except for their own upcoming shows. Thats how it was anyway for the last event on Setanta. Really helps the show.

evad_lhorg

bad news? this is great!

hardCopy

Brilliant indeed, we won't miss all the fights that usually get cut out of the highlight package. I'll also be able to use the internet on Sundays after a UFC now.

Valmont

I'll subscribe to setanta also but I'll definitely miss the free 24hour delayed events on bravo. I've been watching since UFC 53 on bravo so it's the end of an era for many of us!

I just hope that setanta doesn't have a ridiculous amount of ads like bravo did

PiZaRR-0

Its bad news for trying to get new fans to the sport. A lot of people I know started watching MMA because it was on bravo, part of the standard sky digital package. Sure it might generate revenue but not a lot of casual fans will subscribe to setanta. I may do as its only 9.99 per month, thats at least one live event a month for a tenner.

Does anyone know the first UFC they did? I remember watching Tito v. Vitor UFC 51, cant remember if they broad casted anything before that. Also do you remember sky sports used to show a highlight show, that was up to a year out of date? God bless torrents.

fatal

Valmont wrote: »

I'll subscribe to setanta also but I'll definitely miss the free 24hour delayed events on bravo. I've been watching since UFC 53 on bravo so it's the end of an era for many of us!

I just hope that setanta doesn't have a ridiculous amount of ads like bravo did

They wont.The ppv will be broadcasted and aired live on setanta

Fozzy

PiZaRR-0 wrote: »

Does anyone know the first UFC they did?

It was UFC 51, they were showing highlight shows for a few weeks before that to introduce the sport and the fighters

The live US shows on Setanta won't have any ads

filament

seems like a strange move. Up until now they have adopted a very similar wwe model <like in all things.>

WWE has had a track history of giving all shows and main events <with only a few notable exceptions> for free to the UK and Ireland viewers to maintain the market. They only charge PPV when they actually come here which is what ufc has done. They've already stated that there is no money in Europe, just a future, so why would they do something that will clearly hinder new fans switching on casually?

a lot of people noticed the sport when it came onto bravo and they showed those fight documentaries, then there where the few sad bastards like myself who watched it between 4-6am on sky sports back before the brawl at royal albert hall

Just seems to contradict their plans, maybe they feel they've already penetrated the british isles market

Fall_Guy

filament wrote: »

seems like a strange move. Up until now they have adopted a very similar wwe model <like in all things.>

WWE has had a track history of giving all shows and main events <with only a few notable exceptions> for free to the UK and Ireland viewers to maintain the market. They only charge PPV when they actually come here which is what ufc has done. They've already stated that there is no money in Europe, just a future, so why would they do something that will clearly hinder new fans switching on casually?

a lot of people noticed the sport when it came onto bravo and they showed those fight documentaries, then there where the few sad bastards like myself who watched it between 4-6am on sky sports back before the brawl at royal albert hall

Just seems to contradict their plans, maybe they feel they've already penetrated the british isles market

From what i can tell, they are still following WWE strategy, if you're thinking is accurate.-wwe only has pay per view for some events, but no viewing of WWE is free, as such. It's all on SKY Sports, so it's not as if it's readily available for all cable viewers. One needs a sky sports subscription for WWE, one will need a Setanta Subscription for UFC, what's the difference?

I for one will be glad to get all events live so that I won't spoil most events by stupidly going onto a MMA site on sunday afternoon without thinking that the results will be plastered all over the front page!

joe_elway

There are soem subtle differences between what the UFC is doing and what the WWE did back in the day. The WWE already had established a huge audience. They moved onto a subscription station that already had demand due to the Premiership.

UFC is trying to grow an audience. Dana White was quoted in the Telegraph that the European audience was a loss maker for them right now. Moving from Bravo which every Sky customer will have to a niche channel that probably has a tiny audience is not gonna be a bright move. What motivation is there for a larger audience to go onto Setanta? See a couple of Celtic or Rangers games? Watch the worst SEC college football game of the week (they do pick the worst ones in general). Heck, I used to have the channel package and cancelled it.

Bad move Dana White. I thought you were a bright guy ... maybe not considering this and the frequent disagreements with your best fighters.

Vince135792003

joe_elway wrote: »

UFC is trying to grow an audience. Dana White was quoted in the Telegraph that the European audience was a loss maker for them right now. Moving from Bravo which every Sky customer will have to a niche channel that probably has a tiny audience is not gonna be a bright move. What motivation is there for a larger audience to go onto Setanta? See a couple of Celtic or Rangers games? Watch the worst SEC college football game of the week (they do pick the worst ones in general). Heck, I used to have the channel package and cancelled it.

Do you know the average audience levels of Setanta versus Bravo?

I think being on a sports specific channel helps them in some ways. It will be watched by more people that would have a tendency to get into MMA as they are sports fans.

philip graham

go to crocop.de and the ufc events are usually up the next day.or mmalinker.com

Roper

joe_elway wrote: »

UFC is trying to grow an audience. Dana White was quoted in the Telegraph that the European audience was a loss maker for them right now. Moving from Bravo which every Sky customer will have to a niche channel that probably has a tiny audience is not gonna be a bright move. What motivation is there for a larger audience to go onto Setanta? See a couple of Celtic or Rangers games? Watch the worst SEC college football game of the week (they do pick the worst ones in general). Heck, I used to have the channel package and cancelled it.

There's also Premiership games on Setanta so it's not like it's just Celtic anymore.

To be fair, Bravo is in itself a niche channel and a late Sunday night show is hardly a recipe for viewing figures.

Fall_Guy

joe_elway wrote: »

There are soem subtle differences between what the UFC is doing and what the WWE did back in the day. The WWE already had established a huge audience. They moved onto a subscription station that already had demand due to the Premiership.

UFC is trying to grow an audience. Dana White was quoted in the Telegraph that the European audience was a loss maker for them right now. Moving from Bravo which every Sky customer will have to a niche channel that probably has a tiny audience is not gonna be a bright move. What motivation is there for a larger audience to go onto Setanta? See a couple of Celtic or Rangers games? Watch the worst SEC college football game of the week (they do pick the worst ones in general). Heck, I used to have the channel package and cancelled it.

Bad move Dana White. I thought you were a bright guy ... maybe not considering this and the frequent disagreements with your best fighters.

Don't know if its a good move or not, but i can tell you that setanta has ****loads of Premiership football not. All the late kick-offs on saturday (while Sky Sports is showing Championship footy) some of the monday games, few early kick-offs and the odd 3 o'clock game on saturdays (which sky never has). Recently I got setanta in because i've missed so many games this season because of sky's far from exclusive contract with the FA.

I would guess that setanta's viewing figures have grown hugely in the last year or so. Also, i love watching the college football (and basketball)! ****, if it is the worst matches they show, my ignorance ensures that I still enjoy them!

*edit*-sorry, i didn't realise i cursed so much, all these star thingies make me look like matt serra or summat.

Fozzy

Vince135792003 wrote: »

Do you know the average audience levels of Setanta versus Bravo?

Bravo actually seems to have a much higher average audience. If you look here: http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=multichannel&requesttimeout=500&flag=viewingsummary it says that for the first week of this year, Bravo averaged 621,000 viewers a day, compared to Setanta Sports 1 with 112,000 a day. Looking back to last year, the margin isn't usually that large, but Bravo typically gets at least twice the average audience that Setanta gets

Roper wrote:

To be fair, Bravo is in itself a niche channel and a late Sunday night show is hardly a recipe for viewing figures.

I thought it was a good move in general at first, but I'm not so sure now having given it some more thought. 9pm on a Sunday isn't a great time, but is 1 or 2am on a Saturday night really that better? I'm sure they'll repeat it, but the repeat will probably be on Sunday night anyway as the fans are used to watching at that time