TUF 13 TV Ratings Come Up Slightly From Last Week’s Season Low

TUF 13 coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos

The TV ratings for Episode 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos” rose slightly off of last week’s season low. Week 8 clocked in at 1.2 million viewers, a slight improvement over the 1.0 million that Week 7 drew, just below the season average of 1.275 million viewers.

TUF 13 TV ratings have been lower than past seasons. Season 12 finished with an average of 1.7 million viewers.

While some online pundits point at the format of the show, UFC president Dana White believes the biggest damper on this season has been a change in time slot.

Past seasons aired in the 10 p.m. ET period, but Spike TV chose to up the show to a much headier 9 p.m. ET prime time slot this season. The effect was obvious during Week 7’s season low rating when the show went head-to-head with the NBA Playoffs on TNT.

White did admit to one factor in the content of the show, decrying the decision to not have the cast members fight their way into “The Ultimate Fighter” house this season.