After one season of eight episodes, TBS is getting out of the slap fight game.
On Monday, MMA Fighting reported that Power Slap, the Dana White-helmed slap fighting league would not return to TBS for a second season.
Power Slap got off to a rough start, with its debut being pushed back a week after TMZ posted a video of White slapping his wife. Viewership never got off the ground, debuting at 295,000 viewers on January 18th, peaking with 413,000 viewers on January 25th, and finishing with a series-low 220,000 viewers on March 8th.
An originally planned pay-per-view event this weekend to close out the first season was shifting to streaming platform Rumble. White told Pat McAfee last week that the next run of Power Slap would likely be airing on Rumble, describing a term sheet “for the next two years to deliver two more episodes of the reality show, Power Slap, and eight live fights.”
I often snark about how much networks lust after content. Power Slap theoretically fit the bill for Warner Bros. Discovery, but it was unable to hold even half AEW Dynamite‘s lead-in audience, with viewership stagnating over the eight-week season. That underperformance, along with WBD’s desire to cut costs and the continued discussion about the safety of slap fighting, likely made the decision an easy one.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.