UFC 122: Marquardt v. Okami, held this past Saturday in Germany scored an average audience of 2.2 million viewers on Spike TV. The event airing on tape delay in the U.S. delivered a 1.4 hh rating – a 2.00 in M18-49 and a 2.16 in M18-34. The information was confirmed by Spike TV in an email to MMA Payout.
The quarterlies are as follows for Qtr hours/ hh:
1.30
1.36
1.24
1.37
1.42
1.46
1.46
1.42
1.64
1.49
1.50
1.44
Payout Perspective:
The numbers are respectible considering the tape delay and the fact that the event went up against the Pacquiao/Margarito PPV. Fortunately, I believe that the main event did not start until the end of the tape delayed main event (thanks to Nelly). So, if you were watching both, you probably transitioned seamlessly between MMA and boxing. Based on the comments in our previous post, the ratings are decent despite the lackluster card.
UFC 122 did better than UFC 120. The London event free (on tape delay) on SpikeTV drew 1.9 million viewers.
Do the numbers include DVRs? I bet a lot of people watched it on DVR after the boxing match or the next morning.
JJ – I don’t know if the numbers include DVRs. I agree it would be interesting to compare.
I also find it interesting that there was not a spoiler flack as was the case for UFC 120. It could be that people learned their lesson or that the fights were nothing to spoil.
Jason,
I think some people learned their lesson, but I also tend to think it didn’t bother people that much if they knew the result of Marquardt vs. Okami. I made the mistake of visiting sportsnet.ca and had it ruined…would have been pissed off were it a title fight, but not this card.
This result far and away exceeded my expectations. I thought they’d be in the 1.0-1.2 range given competition and the utter lack of media/blog coverage during fight week. There are a host of factors that likely contributed to these ratings:
1. Increased marketing (especially on the viral end)
2. UFC-WEC merger news has people excited
3. WEC 52 provided a solid lead
4. TUF has been holding steady and providing a great promotional platform for 122
5. The UFC brand carries more weight than a UFN. This fight probably would have dropped a couple more tenths on that alone.
KP
This is much better than I thought they would do. None of the people I usually watch MMA with were interested in this card, and none watched live. I DVRd it and watched it the next day. Good for Zuffa to pull these kinds of numbers.
Well, we, some friends and i, watched the ppv and right after saw the UFC 122, and than saw Cain beat the shitz out of Brock. It was a very good night of fights for us, eventhough we stayed up till 230 or so. We were very satified overall of the UFC 122 for it being free and all. Thanks for another great free show UFC!!