Recently, Tough Enough aired in various slots on almost every cable network owned by Comcast, including G4. They already have a relationship with Comcast, which has taken over NBC Universal, the parent company of their American TV outlets (USA Network, Syfy, Telemundo, Mun2, and NBC for annual specials). The new company plan is to spend money, taking out loans if they have to. They're also having trouble getting cable companies to agree to pick up the WWE Network. (Superstars, NXT, Vintage Collection, and a variety of recap shows that might not show up on a hypothetical network) and serve as a backup if they ever lost another clearance. The most definite idea is that would likely feature the WWE shows that the company doesn't have clearances for in the U.S. More on that, plus G4's history, is after the jump.Īny vision of whether or not it would heavily feature footage from WWE's huge library of old wrestling is constantly changing. Meanwhile, WWE has been looking into starting their own cable network. I would guess that most people who are aware of MTV2 and have access to it have no idea that any original programming is aired there. Bellator's current home, MTV2, has been constantly referred to as too small for them to develop a decent sized audience, and it's in 64 million homes, more than G4! G4 does have an advantage in that it has a distinct identity, which MTV2 lost years ago. With UFC being a big money maker for cable and satellite companies via their PPV events and Comcast still owning 40%, they would have the potential to expand, but it would still be a huge step down. Meanwhile, G4 is no longer carried on the DirecTV satellite service, which has about 20 million subscribers. Spike's roots as The Nashville Network are partially responsible for its wide penetration, as it launched way back in 1983. Spike is in about 96 American million homes in while G4 is in about 60 million. If UFC makes this move and buys G4, they lose a huge chunk of both their potential and actual audiences. Bellator would probably gain some viewers, but I doubt they could do as well as UFC does in terms of ratings. Bellator has received enough plugs on Spike recently that it's clear a message is being sent to UFC. less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply Jonathan SnowdenĪs every has been figuring, if UFC leaves Spike TV, then Bellator will move over from Viacom sister channel MTV 2 to replace them and gain a bigger potential audience in the process. Sources close to the negotiations confirmed that UFC on Spike numbers reported in NY Times were for the "life of the deal" not per year. SBNation's own Jonathan Snowden ( who wrote a great article about the pros and cons of UFC buying G4) explained on Twitter: If those numbers seem too high, there's a reason for that. Negotiations between Spike and UFC for a new deal started almost one year ago, one of the people said, but broke down after UFC proposed a $325 million-a-year fee, a price that was far steeper than Spike was willing to pay. Spike's $170 million-a-year deal with UFC for the show, "The Ultimate Fighter," and for live fights expires in six months. They could also promote more cards featuring lower level fighters if they had their own network.Īs far as SpikeTV goes, the original version of the Times story from their media decoder blog included some details not in the version linked at the beginning of this post, which appeared in this morning's print edition: ![]() UFC would be taking over a cable network that focuses on their key young adult demographic, allowing them time to show whatever programming they want and giving them free slots to air prelim matches, major foreign events, back catalog shows featuring old UFC, Pride, WEC, and Strikeforce footage, etc. It doesn't necessarily seem like G4 would become The UFC Network. ![]() It's not clear how close the two companies are to a deal. While it was well known that UFC was looking into leaving Spike TV when their contract expires in December, it didn't seem like anyone knew something like this was coming. UFC has an existing relationship with Comcast as they also own Versus, the former home of WEC turned secondary UFC TV outlet in the US. According to, analysts value a G4 purchase at $600 million. ![]() The big news today is that the Wall Street Journal (free registration required) and the New York Times are reporting that UFC is in negotiations to buy 60% of video game themed turned dollar store Spike TV cable network G4 from Comcast.
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