Bellator 56 Ratings Drop To 154,000 Viewers

The roller coaster ride of Bellator Fighting Championships' fifth season continued on Saturday with Bellator 56. According to reports from MMA Junkie, ratings for the heavyweight tournament semi-finals dropped to 154,000 viewers for MTV2's initial broadcast, continuing a steady decline over the past two weeks. As season five nears a conclusion, six of its eight shows have totaled under 200,000 viewers, falling far short of season four's 204,000 viewer average.

The dip in ratings can likely be attributed to the same factors that doomed Spike TV and the "UFC Prelims". A combination of Halloween weekend distractions in target demographics and a power outage in the northeastern United States, along with direct competition from UFC 137 and college football predictably minimized the available consuming market.

Bellator 56 was held on October 29th at Kansas City's Kansas Memorial Hall. Ben Askren defeated UFC veteran Jay Hieron via split decision to defend his welterweight title in the night's main event.

Ratings rankings of MTV2-televised Bellator shows:

Bellator 44: 325,000 viewers
Bellator 47: 277,000 viewers
Bellator 52: 269,000 viewers
Bellator 45: 264,000 viewers
Bellator 49: 235,000 viewers
Bellator 36: 230,000 viewers
Bellator 48: 226,000 viewers
Bellator 40: 218,000 viewers
Bellator 35: 200,000 viewers
Bellator 42: 199,000 viewers
Bellator 54: 185,000 viewers
Bellator 46: 185,000 viewers
Bellator 43: 182,000 viewers
Bellator 39: 174,000 viewers
Bellator 37: 173,000 viewers
Bellator 55: 168,000 viewers
Bellator 51: 158,000 viewers
Bellator 56: 154,000 viewers
Bellator 38: 150,000 viewers
Bellator 41: 132,000 viewers
Bellator 50: 114,000 viewers 
Bellator 53: 103,000 viewers