MMAPayout.com has confirmed that the UFC 104 Prelims on Spike TV drew a 1.1 household rating for an average audience of 1.4 million viewers. The show also generated a 1.3 rating in both the M18-34 and M18-49 demographics.
The prelims ended up being the second ranked fight card in the M18-34 demo on Saturday night television, behind college football on ESPN.
Payout Perspective:
The ratings for the prelim show remain more or less unchanged from last time out: UFC 103 drew a 1.0 for somewhere around a 1.5 million audience average.
Last time out, it was thought that a lack of promotion time and the Mayweather-Marquez fight had impacted the viewership, but that appears not to be the case. More realistically, the market and appetite for these prelim shows looks to be fairly static – the same core UFC fan base tunes in every time to watch.
While it’s not clear whether these events help to drive viewers to the PPV, they’re still beneficial in helping to develop talent in front of a larger audience. In a day where the UFC is scrambling to find headline-worthy talent, the more exposure their up-and-coming fighters get, the better.
“While it’s not clear whether these events help to drive viewers to the PPV, they’re still beneficial in helping to develop talent in front of a larger audience. In a day where the UFC is scrambling to find headline-worthy talent, the more exposure their up-and-coming fighters get, the better.”
I agree.
For me, that also brings to mind the issue of the UFC having the giant roster and not enough shows to keep all fighters active. But that’s a different discussion. 🙂