The Ultimate Fighter 14 Ratings: Episode 1 Draws 1.5 Million Viewers, 1.1 Household Rating

According to Spike TV officials, Wednesday's debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter Season 14" provided a marginal bounce-back from the show's recent slump. The TUF 14 premiere earned a 1.1 household rating, a slight increase from the 1.0 rating of last year. The two-hour broadcast also drew an average audience of 1.5 million viewers and hit a 1.8 rating in the key demographic of males ages 18-49, ranking in as the number two program amongst the group for the day. 

Led by middleweight coaches Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, the series' fourteenth season focuses on the UFC's newest weight classes, featuring 32 bantamweight and featherweight contestants for the first time. Wednesday night's premiere highlighted all 16 opening round fights in their entirety -- another TUF first. 

This season marks the final run on Spike TV for the UFC's flagship show before moving to Fox affiliate FX. For more on the debut episode, check out featherweight contestant Akira Corassani's recap blog.

Below are rankings of the ratings of debut episodes for each TUF season.

Season 1 - 1.42
Season 2 - 1.8
Season 3- 1.95
Season 4 - 1.7
Season 5 - 1.4
Season 6 - 1.5
Season 7 - 1.3
Season 8 - 1.2
Season 9 - 1.34
Season 10 - 2.9
Season 11 - 1.5
Season 12 - 1.3
Season 13 - 1.0
Season 14 - 1.1