MMA Payout has learned from Nielsen sources that last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night DVR+3 day ratings improved to 735,000 total viewers which is up from the Live+SD number of 655,000 viewers.
In addition, the UFC Fight Night 40 Prelims which aired on FS2 did a 125,000 Live +Same Day average. The two hour Prelims aired prior to UFC Fight Night and were on FS2 due to MLB on FS1.
As was pointed out by one of our readers, the first 15 minutes of the main card first started on FS2. The audience grew to 150,000 during this time. However, the first fight did start on FS1 once the MLB game was over.
UFC Fight Nights since August 2013
UFC Fight Night 26 1,780,000
UFC Fight Night 27 824,000
UFC Fight Night 28 539,000
UFC Fight Night 29 638,000
UFC Fight Night 30 122,000
UFC Fight Night 31 641,000
UFC Fight Night 32 722,000
UFC Fight Night 33 755,000
UFC Fight Night 34 Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night 35 629,000
UFC Fight Night 36 1,400,000
UFC Fight Night 37 Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night 38 936,000
UFC Fight Night 39 Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night 40 735,000 viewers (DVR +3)
Payout Perspective:
The above list does not include all DVR +3 ratings but it should provide some guidance on how last Saturday fared in comparison to other Fight Nights. The last Saturday UFC Fight Night was UFC FN 36 from Brazil and did 1.4M (Machida-Mousasi). UFC Fight Night 38 was another Brazil event held on a Sunday night (Hendo-Rua). The last live event on FS1 prior to last Saturday was the TUF Nations Finale (4/16) which received 641,000 viewers but was held on a Wednesday.
That’s actually a pretty terrible number. The last time FS 2 aired prelims for a show, it was also on a Saturday night. UFC 170 prelims did 305,000 viewers.
My site, MMADraws.com predicts TV numbers based on the strength of the card and we actually projected these prelims to do slightly better. Eddie Wineland was on the show and is a former PPV main event and Natal headlined a TV show in his last fight. Ed Herman has been around forever and is a familiar name to UFC fans.
I think the boxing, NHL and NBA really hurt this show and the baseball game running long probably cost the main card about 10% of it’s viewers. If only 25,000 switched over to FS 2 for the start of the main card, where was the rest of the audience. I’d imagine they tuned in at 10, saw there was no fights and watched something else. Some of them came back, I’m sure but a good portion of them didn’t.
All those guys drawing power is misleading. They are no name guys who happen to fight so done popular. That doesn’t make them popular. Wine land was a main event because the UFC puts all titles as main events. Not because he is a draw. There was no one of note on this card. Brown has a cult blue collar following at best going into the fight and they were at the arena since it was his hometown. Ratings were as expected. Actually expected this event to be the lowest. Because other low events had top rated small guys. But legit contenders. Going in Brown had yet to get a big win and still needs one IMO.
Brown vs Silva was quite possibly the weakest main event UFC has ever put on, no denying that, but I thought going in that the undercard might mean something but clearly not.
And yeah, Wineland and Natal are the fringest of fringe main eventers, no doubt, but I still expected it to do better. Phillipou and Larkin were probably bigger names and were in the semi-main. The card did worse than the average Bellator card and the prelims did less than WSOF usually does, which is really bad.
It’s been said too many times to count and clearly Uncle Dana isn’t listening but ratings like this and the Bisping-Kennedy show are proof that they are running too damn many shows. Splintering the audience to where only the hardest of the hardcore are watching your shows is not the way to make new stars. They need to fight on the undercards of shows with lots of eyeballs and those shows are fewer and far between these days.
Sinking ship
I agree Paul. But part of me thinks it is by design. I have followed the UFC for a long time and zuffa do not make many bad decisions. It would be niece to think they are just running it into the ground with tons of events with no long term plan. I think they are on auto pilot in the USA while fs1 gets it’s feet wet. After all you are not going to break many records with a new network, new lighter weight classes, and woman fighters. The net work needs time and those divisions need lots and lots of fights. Wisely the UFC used this time to go after other markets and have Brazil booming. Going after these markets after a couple years away from over seas expansion tells me this is calculated. I could be wrong but zuffa has a lot of smart people running things and I don’t see anyone panicking over there. If I am right I sure hope it works out. But like you said they are not making stars and it’s a bad sign Chuck Liddell is getting more endorsements than active fighters and he has t fought in like 4 years. That’s speaks volumes. But I’m not wiling to say the UFC needs to abandon their plan. They need fights to get the cream of these new divisions to rise to the top and make the divisions credible.
You make some good points, smasher. I get what they’re doing and it makes sense but you take a fight like Brown-Silva. If that fight had happened on the undercard of a big PPV or a FOX show, Brown would be an insta-star. Now he’s still going to have to repeat that performance in his next fight or it essentially meant nothing.
And the point about waiting it out while FS 1 gets some traction is I’m sure their thoughts but the ratings are going in the wrong direction. If I’m not mistaken FN40 was the lowest rated show they’ve ever done on a Saturday night, which should be their best time slot.
I’m not one of these people who think the company’s going down or anything like that, I just think that the likelihood of UFC being able to create another GSP, Brock or Liddell under the current model is pretty slim.
What person in the history of fighting has ever been made a star from fighting on an undercard… NOBODY.
There is no logic here
Paul, I agree. But the guys on the undercard of UFN’s need fights too. Not everyone can fit on a PPV card. So UFNs have to happen and someone has to headline to get anyone to watch.