Anger Management Week 4 Numbers Rebound

An appearance from Denise Richards on Week 4's episode of Anger Management seemed to help ratings. Anger Management ratings were up amongst men and women in the Charlie Sheen comedy in its fourth week. Denise Richards, Charlie's ex in real life, played a woman who didn't believe in Sheen's character's profession, therapy. Sheen stars as a former baseball player (a stretch from the former Major League
character "Wild Thing") who had an anger problem while he played.


The Week 4 episode of Anger Management saw 2.65 million viewers. The show continues to be strong in the much coveted 18-49 age range. The key advertiser demographic saw 1.42 million viewers. With two episodes premiering in its first week, the show is now 5 episodes into its debut season.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Week 2's ratings of Anger Management dropping. Week 3 saw similar declines in viewers. This set up poorly for Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF), the company behind the Anger Management television show. Lions Gate has commitments for 10 episodes already and has signed multiple international broadcasting deals for the new Charlie Sheen comedy. As I wrote before, Lions Gate also has a pending deal for 90 episodes of Anger Management if it can sustain certain viewer milestones throughout the first ten episodes.



Earlier I also wrote that Lions Gate and News Corporation, the owner of FX Channel, were Winning With Charlie Sheen. Both companies have large television and movie presences. A 90 episode television show could benefit both companies. The way the deal is set up is to save money for the studio as well by shooting a more rapid schedule to get all episodes done as fast as possible. With international rights already being signed at a rapid pace, Lions Gate could really cash in with a 90 episode deal.

*Disclosure - I Own Shares of LGF

Are Anger Management's Week Two Ratings a Worry for Lions Gate

When Anger Management debuted on FX two Thursday ago, it broke records for a cable comedy premiere. The show recieved a lot of press and hype thanks to it being Charlie Sheen's first show since his well publicized departure from Two and a Half Men on CBS. I also wrote about the show on Seeking Alpha in an article entitled, "Lions Gate and News Corporation Winning With Charlie Sheen".

In its first week on the FX channel, Anger Management premiered two episodes with 5.47 million (9PM) and 5.74 million (9:30PM) viewers. Last week, the show suffered declining numbers in its second week. Thursday's episode had "only" 3.37 million viewers, suffering a drop of over 35%. The show did however...

UFC Heading to China

Today, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced it will be heading to China. The most populous nation will see UFC fighters in person on November 10th. The fighters will hold their competition at the Cotei Arena in front of 15,000 people. Macau is the popular gaming area near mainland China. Gambling is legal and has been popularized in the region. I wrote recently about one of the biggest players in the Macau market. See the article here:

-Melco Crown (MPEL)

The UFC continues to expand its global dominance. Recently the league returned to Brazil, where some of its most prominent fighters reside and/or train. The UFC also signed a deal with News Corpoartion to showcase some fights on FX Channel and FOX. The company's hit reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" also made the switch from SPIKE to FX.

-UFC Deal with Fox (NWS)

The UFC continues to be the fastest growing sport in the World and should continue its global expansion and dominance with a deal in China. Unfortunately there is no way to capitalize on the UFC exposure. Unlike rival Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), UFC is not traded on a stock exchange.

Avatar on Imax - A Blogger's Takeaway on the Stock.