NBC on Saturday night averaged 2.18 million viewers for Deontay Wilder's 11th-round TKO of Johann Duhaupas, marking the lowest primetime PBC effort to date on the net and a continuation of a downward ratings trend for the franchise. Wilder-Duhaupas was down 6% from the net's last primetime PBC telecast on June 20, which featured Shawn Porter's win over Adrien Broner (2.33 million viewers). Saturday's PBC telecast was the first to have primetime competition from college football, while the June 20 edition went up against U.S. Open golf on Fox in primetime. NBC drew 2.88 million viewers for Danny Garcia-Lamont Peterson on April 11, which had competition from a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Fox, and 3.37 million viewers for the inaugural PBC telecast on March 7, which featured Keith Thurman-Robert Guerrero and had competition from Duke-North Carolina men's basketball on ESPN. NBC has had three Saturday afternoon PBC telecasts as well, averaging just over 1 million viewers for those windows. For all seven PBC telecasts to date, NBC has averaged around 2.1 million viewers. CBS has yet to air a primetime PBC telecast, and NBC remains well above figures for primetime bouts on ESPN, NBCSN, Spike TV or Bounce TV (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). ESPN.com's Dan Rafael wrote the "downward trend has to be troubling for the PBC, which has steadfastly declined to discuss its goals for viewership" (ESPN.com, 9/30).
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PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS ON NBC TO DATE (ALL SATURDAYS)
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DATE
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START (ET)
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VIEWERS (000)
|
MAIN EVENT |
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3/7/15
|
8:30pm
|
3,374
|
Keith Thurman-Robert Guerrero |
|
4/11/15
|
8:30pm
|
2,882
|
Danny Garcia-Lamont Peterson |
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5/23/15
|
4:30pm
|
1,000
|
James DeGale-Andre Dirrell/
Edwin Rodriguez-Craig Baker |
|
6/6/15
|
3:00pm
|
1,200
|
Robert Guerrero-Aron Martinez |
|
6/20/15
|
8:30pm
|
2,327
|
Shawn Porter-Adrien Broner |
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9/12/15
|
4:00pm
|
1,000
|
Peter Quillin-Michael Zerafa/
Jermall Charlo-Cornelius Bundrage |
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9/26/15
|
8:30pm
|
2,179
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Deontay Wilder-Johann Duhaupas |
