Fox last Saturday night, with competition from an NFL game and a bowl game, drew 2.78 million viewers for its 17th UFC primetime card, which was headlined by Rafael dos Anjos’ win over Donald Cerrone. That figure is relatively flat compared to the comparable UFC telecast last December, which drew 2.77 million viewers for Junior dos Santos-Stipe Miocic. The December UFC telecast in ’13 drew 2.84 million viewers for Demetrious Johnson’s win over Joseph Benavidez. For its four UFC telecasts this year, Fox averaged 2.82 million viewers, up from 2.74 million viewers last year, but down from 3.31 million viewers in ’12 and 3.52 million viewers in ’12.
|
AUDIENCE FOR UFC ON FOX PRIMETIME TELECASTS
|
|
#
|
DATE
|
HEADLINE FIGHT |
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
1
|
11/12/11
|
Junior dos Santos-Cain Velasquez* |
5,675
|
|
2
|
1/28/12
|
Rashad Evans-Phil Davis |
4,661
|
|
3
|
5/5/12
|
Nate Diaz-Jim Miller |
2,418
|
|
4
|
8/4/12
|
Shogun Rua-Brandon Vera |
2,436
|
|
5
|
12/8/12
|
Benson Henderson-Nate Diaz |
4,392
|
|
6
|
1/26/13
|
Demetrious Johnson-John Dodson |
4,219
|
|
7
|
4/20/13
|
Benson Henderson-Gilbert Melendez |
3,742
|
|
8
|
7/27/13
|
Demetrious Johnson-John Moraga |
2,384
|
|
9
|
12/14/13
|
Demetrious Johnson-Joseph Benavidez |
2,836
|
|
10
|
1/25/14
|
Benson Henderson-Josh Thomson |
3,169
|
|
11
|
4/19/14
|
Travis Browne-Fabricio Werdum |
2,529
|
|
12
|
7/25/14
|
Robbie Lawler-Matt Brown |
2,487
|
|
13
|
12/13/14
|
Junior dos Santos-Stipe Miocic |
2,774
|
|
14
|
1/24/15
|
Anthony Johnson-Alexander Gustafsson |
3,049
|
|
15
|
4/18/15
|
Luke Rockhold-Lyoto Machida |
2,745
|
|
16
|
7/25/15
|
T.J. Dillashaw-Renan Barao |
2,758
|
|
17
|
12/19/15
|
Rafael dos Anjos-Donald Cerrone |
2,781
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHART NOTES: * = Telecast was only one hour. Subsequent telecasts were at least two hours.
EARLY RISERS: Utah’s 35-28 win over BYU led the opening Saturday of college bowl games last weekend with 3.68 million viewers on ABC at 3:45pm ET. That figure is up 73% from 2.12 million viewers for the Utah State-Colorado State matchup last year. Over on ESPN, Appalachian State’s win over Ohio last Saturday led the cable net’s opening slate of bowls. ESPN drew 1.85 million viewers for the matchup (5:51pm start), up 66% from 1.11 million viewers for the game last year, which started at 9:15pm (Bowling Green-South Alabama). Earlier in the day, ESPN drew 1.83 million viewers for Arizona’s win over New Mexico in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, down 4% from 1.92 million viewers last year in the same slot for Utah State-UTEP. In the late primetime window on Saturday, ESPN drew 1.42 million viewers for Arkansas State-Louisiana Tech in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Last year’s bowl, which had an 11:00am start, drew 2.25 million viewers for Louisiana-Lafayette’s win over Nevada. Figures for the inaugural Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl on ABC were not available at presstime.
The charts below list final audience figures from recent sports telecasts. Several figures on broadcast TV were delayed at presstime.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl:
Utah-BYU |
12/19
|
ABC
|
3:45-7:30pm
|
2.2
|
3,675
|
| UFC on Fox 17 |
12/19
|
Fox
|
8:00-10:18pm
|
1.6
|
2,781
|
"Sunday Night Football":
Cardinals-Eagles |
12/20
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:11pm
|
10.5
|
18,113
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
"Monday Night Football":
Giants-Dolphins |
12/14
|
ESPN
|
8:15-11:46pm
|
7.4
|
11,547
|
"Saturday Night Football":
Jets-Cowboys |
12/19
|
NFL Network
|
8:26-11:31pm
|
4.3
|
7,410
|
"Thursday Night Football":
Buccaneers-Rams |
12/17
|
NFL Network
|
8:27-11:41pm
|
3.8
|
5,995
|
"Saturday Night Football
Postgame" |
12/19
|
NFL Network
|
11:34pm-12:10am
|
n/a
|
2,792
|
| NBA: Thunder-Cavaliers |
12/17
|
TNT
|
8:14-10:47pm
|
n/a
|
2,416
|
| NBA: Suns-Warriors |
12/16
|
ESPN
|
10:37pm-12:59am
|
n/a
|
1,969
|
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl:
Appalachian State-Ohio |
12/19
|
ESPN
|
5:51-9:20pm
|
n/a
|
1,850
|
Gildan New Mexico Bowl:
Arizona-New Mexico |
12/19
|
ESPN
|
2:31-5:51pm
|
n/a
|
1,832
|
| NBA: Clippers-Spurs |
12/18
|
ESPN
|
8:05-10:48pm
|
n/a
|
1,734
|
| "Sunday NFL Countdown" |
12/20
|
ESPN
|
11:00am-1:00pm
|
n/a
|
1,585
|
