“Here we go!”
Spike TV is losing original UFC broadcasting to the FOX brand of networks at the end of the calendar year, but by 2013, it will be back in the MMA race.
Thanks to a majority-stake purchase from Viacom, the parent of Spike TV as well as Bellator FC’s current broadcast home MTV2, the number two domestic fight organization will join the network’s lineup in 2013, says USA Today.
“It puts all of those cornerstones of ownership in place for us,” says CEO Bjorn Rebney “Which is something that’s been so seriously lacking in the MMA space with so many different companies, including Strikeforce and the IFL and Affliction and all the different failures that have occurred. … It alleviates those issues.”
According to the USA Today story, Spike maintains the ability to air re-runs of UFC’s current programming through the end of 2012, which explains why the network can take its time rolling out the debut of Bellator. By then, the strongest possible offering–with HD broadcasts included–will be ready to go head-to-head with UFC.