EliteXC Update: Early Ratings Make CBS Executive Very Happy

Take that, skeptical fan...me included.

The early ratings for Saturday's EliteXC bout were released by CBS Senior Executive VP Kelley Kahl, and the death knell a majority of us sounded for the promotion might need to be put off by a bit.

The numbers don't take the final 20 minutes of the event into account, because they were expected to be the highest-rated portion of the night, thus giving a better true sampling of what happened:

-4.3 million people tuned into the broadcast throughout the course of the evening.

-They were first among male viewers in the 18-34 and 18-49 brackets with a 2.5 rating. They were also first with a 1.8 rating in the adults (men/women) 18-34 category and tied with ABC's college football game with a 1.8 in the adults 18-49.

-The ratings for men and women in the 18-34 and 18-49 categories were down 11 percent and four percent, respectively, from EliteXC’s CBS debut in May, the last card to feature Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano.

-The CBS contract calls for one more show, and there are plans to carry through with it. “Our contract calls for four shows. We’ve said all along we’re planning to do four shows, and there’s nothing in these numbers that would suggest we won’t," Kahl said.

-On the comments about the potential end of this deal: "That is 100 percent misinformed written by a lot of people who have very little inside knowledge into what's going on, even though they might think they do."

-On the whole Shamrock/Petruzelli/Kimbo loss angle: "In terms of Shamrock, that was a situation really out of our control. We did what a professional organization would do. We got another quality fighter in the ring with Kimbo.

"We didn’t want to disappoint the audiences on television or in the arena. And we obviously put a good fighter in there. In terms of the surprising outcome, that’s just the fight game.

"Kimbo was a man for stepping up and taking the fight, and Petruzelli was a stud for taking it, too. At the end of the day, we promised Kimbo Slice and we delivered Kimbo Slice.”

Full ratings come out on Tuesday.

Sources: MMA Weekly and AOL's Fanhouse

Josh Nason started Ropes, Ring and Cage in 2007 and is the main contributor of content for the site. A long-time writer, his work can also be read at sites like SmallWhiteBall.com, EmailMarketingGuy.com and others. He also does radio appearances and was on TV once, notably giving Razor Ramon a thumbs-down during a crowd pan of WWF Wrestling Spotlight. He can be reached at [e-mail].