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  Fuel TV General Manager CJ Olivares.

Fuel TV made two announcements yesterday. Nielsen Media Research will rate the cable and satellite television network starting on March 28.

 

Fuel TV will also be expanding its motocross programing.

 

I spoke with Fuel TV General Manager CJ Olivares about what the new metric means for endemic and nonendemic advertisers, viewers and action sports brands, and why motocross is such an important initiative.

 

I first asked CJ why Fuel TV, which is owned by Fox Sports, was not rated before. CJ explained that it has been a challenge to get stable data from Nielsen in networks that reach less than 40 million households. Fuel TV currently reaches a little north of 30 million households.

 

In the last two years, though, CJ said the network has been able to get better reports and insight into consumers’ viewing habits. He said they’re also increasing their viewership, and have gained a lot of support from Fox Sports to take the network to another level.

 

“We’re taking a big step forward and Fuel TV and Fox are committed to creating long-term growth and investment in building this property,” said CJ. “Ratings are something every network has to go through to ensure their long-term livelihood.”

 

For advertisers and agencies, CJ expects the ratings to tell a compelling story about the world of young adult males, who make up the bulk of the viewership of Fuel TV.

 

Currently, Mountain Dew, Nike 6.0, Scion, Verizon and Geico are some of the advertisers that support the network.

 

“The ratio of guys 12 to 24 that comprise our audience is extremely high, so when we can show people numbers in April, we believe that ratio is going to be impressive, especially when viewed against other networks that would be considered in our competitive set like Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Spike, and MTV,” he added.

 

As far as programming, CJ said the ratings will make it very obvious which shows are popular and which shows are not. For viewers who like shows that get high ratings, they’ll be able to keep watching their favorite shows. For shows with low ratings, they’ll most likely get cancelled.

 

CJ said currently Built To Shred, The Daily Habit, Thrillbillies, The Adventures of Danny and The Dingo, and Firsthand are shows that have all done well and he expects them to get good ratings.

 

See page 2 for how ratings apply to ASP coverage, and an update on moto coverage

 

 

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I asked CJ how ratings will apply to event shows like the ASP World Tour coverage. For many years Fuel TV has aired a highlight show of the ASP tour that airs many weeks after the actual event.

 

Now that there are live webcasts of each event, and viewers can watch event stops from their desks, CJ said they are working with the ASP and surf brands to come up with more relevant TV programming that appeals not just to surfers but to people who aspire to the surf lifestyle from all over the country and the globe.

 

CJ said expanding programming not just to core athletes, but to the aspirational athletes is important to the network and advertisers.

 

“Ultimately we are trying to raise the bar so that our programming becomes compelling not only for people who ride but for people who aspire to ride,” he said.

 

That’s one of the reasons Fuel TV is also expanding its motocross coverage. In addition to talking to Red Bull about possibly covering the Red Bull X-Fighters, the six-stop international freestyle motocross tour, Fuel TV signed an agreement with Alli Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing to telecast the 12-stop Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Events starting May 21, 2011.

 

“Freestyle has always been a part of action sports and we’ve always embraced it,” said CJ.

 

“But as we started to look at the participation base for freestyle versus the participation base for people who ride dirt bikes, there are not as many freestyle riders compared to the millions of people who drive out to the country side each weekend to ride dirtbikes, whether in the Midwest, east or even Southern California,” he said.

 

CJ also said existing motocross-based shows like Bubba’s World and The Moto have been doing particularly well. Being a sister network of Speed has also allowed Fuel TV to further explore the motocross arena.

 

“We saw motocross as away to expand our existing consumer base without alienating our core,” said CJ.

 

“Adding the event series will be another way to reach this audience. We have had some good reaction from the motocross endemic word so far and I am sure we’ll continue to see that as the events gets closer.”