MMAPayout.com has learned that the UFC 116 Prelims drew a .9 HH rating on the strength of an average audience of 1.3 million viewers. The broadcast also drew a 1.11 in the M18-34 and a 1.04 in the M18-49 demographics.
Additionally, the UFC 116 Weigh-Ins that aired on Friday, July 2nd drew a solid 645,000 viewers.
Payout Perspective:
The prelim rating comes in at the lower end of the average range for the series, but these ratings have not proven to correlate very strongly with overall interest in the PPV. If anything, the fact that the show peaked at 1.5 million viewers for the final quarter hour is a better indicator of what sort of momentum this card had begun to generate.
The weigh-in rating is pretty solid, and I’d expect them to roll this out on a more consistent basis in the future (especially for bigger cards like UFC 118 at the end of August). Just think about it: the UFC is drawing over half a million viewers for a 30 minute staring contest. That’s pretty impressive.
Note: I forgot to mention this in the UFC 116 Payout Perspective piece, but Bud Light deserves credit for sponsoring the UFC 116 weigh-ins and affording the UFC an opportunity to go commercial free.
I thought it was a little odd when I first heard the weigh-ins were going to be broadcast live, because by the time the fighters hit the scale they’re generally starving and very grumpy. An extra 10-15 minute wait due to commercials can feel like a year.
Kudos to Bud Light for stepping up.
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