“UFC on Fox 5” finished with a 2.5 rating and 4.4 million viewers on Saturday from 8:00-10:40pm ET, up 79% and 80%, respectively, from a 1.4 rating and 2.4 million viewers for “UFC on Fox 4” in early August. The audience from Saturday night ranks third among Fox’ five UFC telecasts to date. “UFC on Fox 5” began with a 2.0 rating (3.6 million viewers) for the Mike Swick-Matt Brown bout, with the audience then growing throughout the telecast, peaking at a 3.3 rating (5.7 million viewers) for the Benson Henderson-Nate Diaz main event. The telecast ranked third for the week among males 18-34, behind only NBC’s “SNF” and Fox’ “The Simpsons.” Through five telecasts, "UFC on Fox" is averaging a 2.1 rating and 3.7 million viewers. Meanwhile, FX earned a 0.8 rating and 1.2 million viewers for the UFC prelims on Saturday from 5:00-8:00pm.
|
"UFC ON FOX" AUDIENCE TO DATE
|
|
DATE
|
HEADLINE FIGHT |
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
11/12/11
|
Junior Dos Santos-Cain Velasquez |
3.1
|
5,675
|
|
1/28/12
|
Rashad Evans-Phil Davis |
2.6
|
4,661
|
|
5/5/12
|
Nate Diaz-Jim Miller |
1.5
|
2,418
|
|
8/4/12
|
Shogan Rua-Mauricio Vera |
1.4
|
2,436
|
|
12/8/12
|
Benson Henderson-Nate Diaz |
2.5
|
4,392
|
| |
|
|
|
JOHNNY HEISMAN: ESPN earned a 3.1 rating and 4.9 million viewers for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony last Saturday, which saw Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel become the first freshman to ever win the award. That audience marks the net’s second best Heisman audience on record, behind only the telecast in ’09, which drew a 3.5 rating and 6.0 million viewers.
|
HEISMAN TROPHY CEREMONY AUDIENCE TREND ON ESPN
|
|
YEAR
|
WINNER |
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'12
|
Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel |
3.1
|
4,902
|
|
'11
|
Baylor QB Robert Griffin III |
2.9
|
4,603
|
|
'10
|
Auburn QB Cam Newton |
2.3
|
3,784
|
|
'09
|
Alabama RB Mark Ingram |
3.5
|
5,990
|
|
'08
|
Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford |
2.7
|
4,151
|
|
|
|
|
|
30 SOMETHING: ESPN finished with a 2.3 rating and 3.6 million viewers for “You Don’t Know Bo,” marking the net’s most-watched documentary ever. The audience for the final installment of “30 for 30” films this fall passed the previous record set by “The Fab Five” in March ’11 (1.8 rating, 2.7 million viewers). For the six “30 for 30” films that aired this fall, ESPN averaged a 1.3 rating and 1.9 million viewers. Back in the fall of ’09, when the “30 for 30” project began, ESPN averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.3 million viewers for the first seven films. That slate of films was led by “The U” following the Heisman Ceremony, averaging a 1.6 rating and 2.4 million viewers. Three of ESPN’s five most-watched documentaries have aired following the Heisman Ceremony.
|
MOST-VIEWED DOCUMENTARIES ON ESPN
|
|
DATE
|
FILM |
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
12/8/12
|
"You Don't Know Bo" |
2.3
|
3,602
|
|
3/13/11
|
"The Fab Five" |
1.8
|
2,746
|
|
10/2/12
|
"Broke" |
1.7
|
2,528
|
|
12/11/10
|
"Pony Excess" |
1.6
|
2,517
|
|
12/12/09
|
"The U" |
1.6
|
2,368
|
| |
|
|
|
NOTES: CBS earned a 3.8 final rating for the Army-Navy game last Saturday, up slightly from a 3.7 rating last year and up 15% from a 3.3 rating in ’10….Travel Channel averaged 260,000 viewers for the premiere of “NFL Road Tested: Cleveland Browns” on Dec. 4....Lakers-Thunder last Friday drew a combined 12.6 local rating in Oklahoma City across FS Oklahoma and ESPN, marking the second-best Thunder rating this season in the market, trailing only a 13.6 rating for Rockets-Thunder on Nov. 28.
The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
| "NFL on Fox": Saints-Giants (91%) |
12/9
|
Fox
|
4:15-7:43pm
|
14.8
|
24,500
|
"Sunday Night Football":
Lions-Packers |
12/9
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:28pm
|
12.8
|
21,357
|
| "NFL on Fox": (regional) |
12/9
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
10.3
|
16,300
|
| "NFL on CBS": (single) |
12/9
|
CBS
|
1:00-4:05pm
|
10.2
|
n/a
|
| "The OT" |
12/9
|
Fox
|
7:43-8:00pm
|
7.1
|
11,450
|
| "Football Night in America" |
12/9
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
5.1
|
8,324
|
| NCAA Football: Army-Navy |
12/8
|
CBS
|
3:00-7:00pm
|
3.8
|
n/a
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
12/9
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
3.4
|
5,000
|
| "UFC on Fox 5" |
12/8
|
Fox
|
8:00-10:40pm
|
2.5
|
4,392
|
| "The NFL Today" |
12/9
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
2.5
|
n/a
|
| "College Football Today" |
12/8
|
CBS
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
1.1
|
n/a
|
NCAA Basketball:
Arkansas-Michigan |
12/8
|
CBS
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
1.0
|
n/a
|
| Deer Valley Celebrity Skifest |
12/9
|
CBS
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
1.0
|
n/a
|
| "ESPN Sports Saturday" |
12/8
|
ABC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
n/a
|
Golf: Franklin Templeton
Shootout: Third Round |
12/8
|
NBC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
n/a
|
| ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating |
12/9
|
NBC
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
0.6
|
n/a
|
Golf: Franklin Templeton
Shootout: Final Round |
12/9
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
0.6
|
n/a
|
| "ESPN All America Team Show" |
12/8
|
ABC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.5
|
n/a
|
| Red Bull Signature Series: Rampage |
12/8
|
NBC
|
2:00-4:00pm
|
0.5
|
n/a
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
"Monday Night Football":
Giants-Redskins |
12/3
|
ESPN
|
8:30-11:45pm
|
10.2
|
16,209
|
"Thursday Night Football":
Broncos-Raiders |
12/6
|
NFLN
|
8:30-11:30pm
|
4.2
|
6,755
|
| Heisman Trophy Ceremony |
12/8
|
ESPN
|
8:00-9:08pm
|
3.1
|
4,902
|
| 30 for 30: "You Don't Know Bo" |
12/8
|
ESPN
|
9:08-10:38pm
|
2.3
|
3,602
|
| "Thursday Night Football Pre-Kick" |
12/6
|
NFLN
|
8:00-8:30pm
|
2.2
|
3,453
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
12/3
|
ESPN
|
6:30-8:30pm
|
1.9
|
2,859
|
| NBA: Knicks-Heat |
12/6
|
TNT
|
8:15-10:50pm
|
1.8
|
2,696
|
| NBA: Lakers-Thunder |
12/7
|
ESPN
|
9:58pm-12:21am
|
1.8
|
2,660
|
| "Sunday NFL Countdown" |
12/9
|
ESPN
|
10:00am-1:00pm
|
1.3
|
1,924
|
FCS Quarterfinal:
Georgia Southern-Old Dominion |
12/8
|
ESPN
|
12:00-3:32pm
|
1.1
|
1,566
|
