Curt Menefee interviews UFC President Dana White during coverage of FOX UFC FIGHT NIGHT
Curt Menefee interviews UFC President Dana White during coverage of FOX UFC FIGHT NIGHT
FOX Sports Sets Viewership Marks with UFC 200 Weekend
An epic weekend of live UFC events, including THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE and the highly anticipated UFC 200, set a viewership record on FS2 and delivered impressive numbers on FS1, according to Nielsen Media Research.
On Saturday, July 9, as a Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians ran long on FS1, the first 32 minutes of the UFC 200 PRELIMS moved to FS2 from 8:00 PM ET to 8:32 PM ET and tallied 582,000 viewers and 379,000 in the Adults 18-49 demo, making it the most-watched telecast in FS2 history in both metrics.
The final 89 minutes of the UFC 200 PRELIMS ran on FS1 and garnered 1,786,000 viewers, making it the third-most watched UFC PPV PRELIMS telecast in FS1 history, behind UFC 194 (1,931,000) and UFC 196 (1,843,000 viewers). The show peaked with 2,046,000 viewers from 9:45 PM ET – 10:00 PM ET. Among A18-49, it is now the most-watched UFC PPV PRELIMS ever with 1,084,000 viewers. FS1 was the most-watched ad supported cable network among A18-49 for the 8:00 PM ET – 10:00 PM ET time period. The FS1 UFC 200 POSTFIGHT SHOW posted 244,000 viewers.
On Friday, July 8, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE main card (10:00 PM ET – 1:00 AM ET) averaged 1,086,000 viewers, making it the most-watched ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE on FS1 since the first fall 2013 season featuring Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate scored 1,129,000 viewers. It also saw gains of +57% in viewers versus last year’s spring ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE (691,000) and among A18-49 was up +68% (657,000 vs. 390,000). The main card viewership peaked between 12:45 AM ET – 1:00 AM ET with 1,325,000 viewers.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE coverage led FS1 to the top spot among cable sports networks in total viewership and A18-49 between 8:00 PM ET – 1:15 AM ET.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE PRELIMS from 8:00 PM ET – 10:00 PM ET drew 642,000 viewers and 352,000 in the A18-49 demo, up +37% in viewers (470,000) and up +42% in A18-49 (248,000) from last year’s spring THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER PRELIMS on Sunday, July 12. THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE POSTFIGHT SHOW delivered 310,000 viewers.
The action keeps rolling this week with a special Wednesday FS1 UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MCDONALD VS. LINEKER, headlined by a key bantamweight matchup between No. 5-ranked Michael McDonald and No. 8 John Lineker live from Sioux Falls, S.D., beginning at 6:00 PM ET.
