The hour-long UFC on FOX premiere scored a 3.1/5 household rating/share, with 5.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched UFC event ever and the most-watched professional fight of any kind on any network since 2003 when 7.0 million tuned in to watch Lewis-Klitschko on HBO, FOX reported.
In Saturday’s bout, the challenger, Junior dos Santos defeated defending champion Cain Velasquez in a first-round knock out to claim the heavyweight crown.
Velasquez-dos Santo is also the highest-rated and most-watched professional fight of any kind on a broadcast network since Oscar de la Hoya’s fight night on FOX, which drew 4.3/6, 5.9 million viewers in 1998, FOX reported.
FOX research projects that Saturdays’ UFC on FOX premiere broadcast to win the 9:00-10:00 p.m. time period across key demos, including adults 18-34 (3.2), adults 18-49 (3.0), men 18-34 (4.3) and men 18-49 (4.0). As of press time, competitive fast national ratings for other networks were unavailable.
The UFC on FOX debuted against strong college football competition. ABC's primetime Oregon-Stanford broadcast averaged a 6.0/11, while NBC's Maryland-Notre Dame primetime broadcast averaged a 1.4/3 and ESPN averaged a 1.5/3 in prime for Alabama-Mississippi State (college football ratings are overnights – overnight for UFC on FOX event was 3.5/6). The three games combined to total 8.9/17 in primetime. Among the men 18-34 demographic, the UFC on FOX premiere posted a 4.3, strong enough to outrate every college football telecast this season on any network with the exception of last week’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 LSU-Alabama match-up (through 11/5), FOX reported.
The most recent mixed martial arts programs on broadcast television were a series of EliteXC events on CBS in 2008. The premiere of UFC on FOX attracted an average audience +16% higher than the premiere of EliteXC on CBS (5/31/08), and the UFC outscored them 5.7 million viewers to 4.9 million. The UFC on FOX also out-performed the EliteXC show in household rating (3.1 vs. 3.0) and across key male demos: men 18-34 +34% (4.3 vs. 3.2), men 18-49 +33% (4.0 vs. 3.0) and men 25-54 +23% (3.8 vs. 3.1).
Las Vegas led all local markets with a 5.3/9, followed by Dallas (5.1/10), Phoenix (5.1/9), San Antonio (5.1/8), Tulsa (4.9/8), San Diego (4.8/9), Greensboro (4.6/6), New Orleans (4.5/6) and Los Angeles (4.3/8), FOX reported.
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