Pet Peeve Time – Foxtel handling of Progamming of UFC on Foxtel
Firstly, I am a sad puppy in that if the UFC had their own channel, I would watch it / record it 24/7.
Also one of the main reason I have kept my $100 a month HD Cable subsription has been because of the UFC including the $45 a month extra for live UFC events.
I will likely be cancelling soon and I see form my 10,000 or so followers on my blogs and on twitter feel the same.
Early on, the UFC was not on TV here in Australia so the only way to watch UFC was illegal downloads (a long time ago).
Time has moved on and the UFC is on free TV occasionally or Foxtel frequently.
So, here in Australia, I am not sure if the original old episodes of TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) were actually shown on Foxtel and I missed them but I have enjoyed watching them and currently I think they are on Season 9 of the old ones and Season 14 of the new ones mainly but not exclsuisvley on Fuel TV.
The trouble is there is no rhyme or resaon on not only what order they show episodes in, what the name of the show they have the fights on, and in some cases recently they will show a fight, go to a commercial between rounds and come back to a different fight as they did this week.
Also none of the TV guides (foxtel’s own) or even Fuel TV’s either shows UFC at all or not very well, making all of this much worse, for the viewer.
What?
Let me explain; Currently Foxtel shows,
1. UFC Wired,
2. UFC Rewound
3. UFC Unleashed
4. UFC Magazine
5. TUF (The ultimate fighter)
6. 100 Greatest Fights,
7. MMA (shows Pride and UFC),
8. Mixed Martial Arts (shows a bit of everything including UFC)
9. Perhaps more
Just recently the TV show TUF showed new episodes, then once the season was over started showing old seasons, great.
Unfortunately, part way through one of the seassons they changed the series name from TUF to one of the other shows titiles.
Then the last straw for me was in the final of Season 8, on a 3rd UFC show title, part way through the final and part way through a fight they went to commercial break and came back to another new fight.
Half way though that fight they went to another commercial and back to the previous series.
Now had I had not programing expereince with Foxtel, I would say this was just a simple mistake.
Unforutnately, Foxtel has a history of doing this and did so for a TV series, recently where they showed part of the final season of a TV show, then the following week an episode from another season etc.
Lastly, on Foxtel part of the premium service they offer is the ability to record a whole tv series with one clock. Unfortunately, as the name of the series show (TUF to Rewound, for example), then this did not work, with the Final of the season being on a 3rd show title.
Hard work even for the most die hard fan.
How to Fix it
Not rock science (as my gelogist friend says)¸ make sure the TV guide included a season and episode number e.g. S09E02 for season 9 episiode 2 (something Foxtel does for other shows).
Keep the show name TUF, Unleashed, Rewound the same for the duration of a TUF season.
I as I sure many others will be looking for alternative measures to watch UFC shows like off UFC.com
@mr_internet is a blogger and Martial Artist with black belts from 2 countries multiple disciplines and been involved in martial arts since 1973.
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