My argument (http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_8987.shtml):
"This is one of those questions that I'm afraid pundits will claim to know the answer to with undue confidence. The reality is that we don't have any scientific approach to studying this sport that can accurately predict what will cause shows to draw much lower ratings than indicated by common wisdom. Offering up "after the fact" explanations for why events occurred is an interesting way of generating hypotheses, but doesn't actually explain anything."
Curious as to your thoughts . . .
Alex
ttt
the fights always sucked,the 2 things that sold it was tension between coaches or rivalrys in the house
alot of boring in gym workouts dont make for captivating tv
Insanely stale format. The show desperately needed an overhaul after the Rampage-Rashad season.
Agreed. Everything about it is boring and trite. I knew who was going to win the fight just by how they cut the footage.
I'd rather have behind the scene footage and training camp footage leading up to big fights rather than see a couple of guys go the distance and put on lackluster performances 70% of the time. 
1) show's time changed to appeal to eastcoast. Probably lost a lot of westcoast viewing as a result.
2) less fights (didnt have to fight to get into the house)
3) emo b1tches for fighters. Fighters crying about beeing far from home or "not sure if they should be here" is RETARDED. How about the millions of other guys who would die for that opportunity in life.
4) No drama between coaches
5) stylistically the fights have just sucked. (but thats because the fighters didnt have to fight to get in the house so no one really knew who could do what cept by looking at their records)
6) just seems bland as hell this season
dos santos has no personality for the average fan to care about. brock hasn't gone on a WWE rampage yet so there really isn't that big of interest yet. not to mention the fighters on the show aren't exactly top prospects or anyone who looks like a future contender in the near future.
I think the ratings would go through the roof if Brock could just use the phrase "chicken shit into chicken salad" a few more times...
The ratings were low from the start, so the lack of interest can't be entirely attributed to the show being boring so far.
I think the assumption was that Lesnar's presence would sell the show on it's own, obviously that hasn't been the case.
I guess Lesnar's stock really dropped after the Carwin and Cain fights. Carwin showed he was beatable and Cain just humiliated him. The 'baddest man on the planet' hype died and the WWE superstar transitioning to MMA story has lost it's novelty.
Dos Santos as a coach didn't didn't really do much to hype the show either. He is not known as a big personality, exciting fighter, seems like a cool guy, but not someone you would necessarily go out of your way to listen to.
Also I think the show itself has just run it's course, it needs to be radically overhauled or just ditched at this point. It's become to familiar, too contrived and too repetitive.
I'm still watching, but I understand why people are switching off.
My best guess is the time slot.
My best guess is the time slot. Second best guess is not all the fighters are ready for primetime. Third best guess is like Pat Miletich said once when asked how the fight vs Dan Severn that night was going to go "I don't know, anything can happen in this sport, that is why you have the fight."
Kirik - My best guess is the time slot. Second best guess is not all the fighters are ready for primetime.
I think the timeslot has a lot to do with it...I missed the season premiere, had no idea it was on at 9 pm EST.
That may be a red flag for PPV sales going forward.
pretty simple...each season they move more and more away from the drama and focus more and more on the fights
it sounds nice, but you have to remember the mainstream audience doesnt want to see two mediocre athletes dry hump each other for 15 minutes
what made tuf successful in the first place and why every other reality show in the planet is successful is because of the drama
its hard to give a shit about watching two mediocre athletes go at it when you really dont know anything about them or care about them as people
Not to mention DirecTV has most of the new episodes listed as re-runs from other seasons, I tuned in to see if it really was going to be a re-run of Kos vs GSP.
I know Dish Network had Wednesday's episode description as "Dana confronts Chack about his picks".
13 seasons with very little change in the format. The show is too restrictive, they need to show these people outside of the gym and prison-like house. After awhile, it's all just a blur of homoerotic pranks and bored people mixed in with a weekly fight.
- No lead in for the premier
- Change of time compared to previous seasons
- No conflict between coaches
- Casual fans don't care about JDS
- Casting for entertainers, not fighters on the brink of making it to the UFC
- Stale format and production
There is no need to watch TUF anymore. In the first few seasons it was about guys who were ready to be in the UFC but were undiscovered. They transitioned well, and many became legitimate threats if not champions of their divisions.
The majority of the seasons are just fighters who are not ready for the UFC yet, or will never make it back. No serious title contenders, very few guys that have potential to be a star or future champion.
Basically TUF has turned into an introduction to the new crop of guys who will be working the undercard of UFC events for the next 2 years.
Double post because the forum broke.
Time Slot
Brock being Brock and not in character
Casual fans have no idea who the balding Randy Orton looking guy who can barely speak English is
Last few seasons haven't produced talent that the fans care about
No heat between the coaches. They're being professional and cordial
The shine is off of Lesnar
Episodes are mislabeled as reruns on Cablevision as well. My DVR missed ep 2.
everyone seems to think that having a very charismatic coach is going to bring in tons of viewers..i disagree completely..you can bring in SOnnen or Brock and have them yap their one-liners all night but by the second episode, that will grow boring..as long as their is no rivalry between the coaches, they can only do so much...they arent fighting themsselves so i dont see how the coaches bring in viewers..
the fighters and fights themselves is what suck...i cant tell you how many times ive watched Tuf to the end to see the fight and then been bored to death with the same carbon copy c level grapplers grinding each other..the fighters have no charisma, u have no idea who they are, no rivalry, it just makes for one boring show..
they need to bring back challenges or have the fighters do something other than train...thats been done to death..