CBS 'EliteXC' fight ratings KO'd by overtime

CBS launched its mixed martial arts franchise Saturday night with a fight that delivered decent ratings, yet likely taught the network some lessons for staging future events.

The nearly three-hour telecast ran 45 minutes past 11 p.m., pushing the much-anticipated headliner bout between Kimbo Slice (pictured, Getty Images photo) and James Thompson outside of primetime hours. As a result, CBS placed second for the night in the adults 18-to-49 demo -- coming in a tenth of a point behind NBC’s airing of the Stanley Cup Finals, which in turn tied Fox’s presentation of movie “The Rookie” for first place.

CBS opened the night with a “CSI” repeat (4.5 million viewers, 0.9 adults 18 to 49 rating and a 4 share), followed by its “EliteXC Saturday Night Fights Special” (4.3 million viewers, 1.9/6). "EliteXC" won its time periods. But according to the metered market overnights,the fight's viewership significantly spiked during overtime (full program ratings will not be known until the national numbers are released Tuesday).

The overrun not only hampered what could have a CBS full-night ratings victory, but also frustrated some viewers. CBS wanted to introduce its broadcast audience to ultimate fighting by featuring plenty of player profiles and interviews, yet the result seemed to annoy MMA purists.

“The broadcast dragged on interminably,” wrote Yahoo Sports. “There was more chatting than ‘The Tonight Show’ …when it was 70 minutes into the show, there had been just 2:12 of fighting.”

CBS noted the primetime portion of the telecast nonetheless increased the network’s time-period average in the demo by 36% compared to the past season. And with CBS’ next “EliteXC” bout scheduled for July, the network still has plenty of time to work on tightening its production.

“There’s a bit of a learning curve here, but I think we had a terrific start,” said Kelly Kahl, head of scheduling for CBS. “We had three goals: Improve our Saturday night demos, get some new advertisers and expand viewership of the sport -- and we did all three.”

CBS is trying to get foothold on low-rated Saturday nights and bring in young male viewers who do not typically watch the network. CBS had staffers phone about 500 sports bars last week to spread the news about the “EliteXC” event.

UPDATE: FINAL NUMBERS

Here's a clip from the third and final round of the headliner event:

Also: Fans gave high marks to this match between Kaitlin Young and Gina Carano: