Bellator FC Ratings WAY Up, But Does It Really Mean Anything?

MMApayout with the news:

Bellator Fighting Championships made its FOX Sports Net debut April 8th as FSN’s highest-rated national program on both Thursday and Sunday night. The Thursday premiere lifted the network’s prime time ratings by an impressive 60 percent compared to the same time period average in the 2nd Quarter of 2009. In addition, the Bellator 13 re-air was also up 57 percent from the 2nd Quarter time period average on Sundays.

Bellator 13 from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood , Fla. , was the highest-rated program nationally distributed by FSN on Thursday, April 8th and Sunday, April 11th.

The show was especially successful in attracting males under the age of 54 to the network. Bellator 13:

- Increased FSN’s Thursday night 18-34 male audience by 143 percent;
- Increased FSN’s Thursday night 18-49 male audience by 153 percent; and
- Increased FSN’s Thursday night 25-54 male audience by 180 percent.

Bellator also showed the ability to draw strong local ratings for individual FSN affiliates. For example, Bellator 13 drew a .85 local rating for FSN Pittsburgh, where the event aired live and in prime time.

At first glance, I was like wow Bellator is really doing their thing.  However, the thing that makes me squint my eyes like an old man trying find his winky woe is that there are no hard numbers evident, just percentages.  I'm no math genius, in fact I HATE math, but I'd like to see some real numbers in regards to the ratings.  The smaller the actual number the easier it is to manipulate the percentages(which leads me to believe that there are not a lot of people watching these events).  I work in college admissions so I know how the 'percentage' system works in regards to trying to show growth and vice versa.  Just because Bellator 13 grew over 140% in over three different demographics doesn't mean much to me.  I mean, it's better than a negative I suppose, but just give me the real numbers.  BTW, the last Bellator event finally aired LIVE for me, so I got a chance to watch the event unlike the first one this season.  It was pretty good, and I like the fact that Bellator is releasing all of their fights on youtube, for those that may not get to see the event live or at all.  Great move for them, but again, just give us the hard numbers.