SpikeTV has announced that the UFC 109 Prelims drew the highest rating of the series last Saturday, earning a 1.2 HH rating which was good for an average of 1.7 million viewers. The programming also scored well in the M18-34 and M18-49 demos with each scoring a 1.6 rating.
Here’s a breakdown of the ratings thus far.
| Event | HH | 18-34 | 18-49 | Viewers |
| 103 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1,400,000 |
| 104 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1,400,000 |
| 106 | 1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1,300,000 |
| 108 | 1 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1,500,000 |
| 109 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1,700,000 |
Payout Perspective:
I think it’s interesting to see the progression these Prelims have made. They’re still a work in progress in terms of content and scheduling, but the ratings are growing despite the variable presence of known commodities. The UFC is essentially leveraging its brand equity in order to build its fighters (and its own PPVs).
To me, this is another indicator that was some serious interest in UFC 109, which may translate to a significantly higher buyrate than was projected. Between the countdown show ratings and now this coupled with the internet buzz leading up to the event, I think we may see 500,000 buys or higher.
500K buys would be a great showing and around the average that Randy usually brings to the table. I predict a number around 400K, but the lead up seems like the interest is there to push it higher, or it maybe a new trend that peeps will watch the free stuff even if they aren’t buying the PPV.
102 435K
91 900K
74 520K
68 540K
57 400K
UFC 110 is probably not going to have prelims on Spike. Bummer.
I didnt notice any reairing of fights which was a great sign. Nothing ruins a PPV more than watching the prelims then being forced to watch them again on the PPV.