MMA Payout has learned from Nielsen sources that Wednesday’s TUF episode 13 received an average viewership of 635,000. The viewership was up from last week’s episode by 25%.
TUF 18 Episodes
Episode 1: 762,000 viewers
Episode 2: 870,000 viewers
Episode 3: 639,000 viewers
Episode 4: 778,000 viewers
Episode 5: 640,000 viewers
Episode 6: 725,000 viewers
Episode 7: 672,000 viewers
Episode 8: 476,000 viewers
Episode 9: 452,000 viewers
Episode 10: 583,000 viewers
Episode 11: 561,000 viewers
Episode 12: 510,000 viewers
Episode 13: 635,000 viewers
Season Average: 639,000
Payout Perspective:
The season finale finally broke the trend of decreased viewership for TUF from the previous three weeks, as it drew 635,000 (0.31 A18-49) average viewers. The number indicates a 25% increase in average viewership from the previous week. The TUF season was culminated appropriately with a woman’s bout as Raquel Pennington and Jessica Rakoczy defeated Raquel Pennington by unanimous decision 30-27 . Rakoczy’s win earns her a shot against semifinalist Julianna Pena for the TUF crown alongside Chris Holdsworth and David Grant for the men’s TUF crown.
TUF ends the season averaging 638,692 average viewers, which is a significant drop-off from TUF 17: Jones vs Sonnen on FX, which averaged 1.2M viewers for the season, which is roughly a 50% decline in viewership. That drop can be attributed to FOX moving the TUF property from the highly rated FX network to the new startup Fox Sports 1.
Topping the night on cable for sports programming was the NBA Wednesday night game between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavs, which drew 1.856M (0.73 A18-49) viewers.
I wonder, how are the other properties being affected? How much of an average drop has Fight Nights and Prelims seen since being aired on FS1?
I took a look.
Prelims 2013 avg (FS1): 789,000
Prelims 2012 avg (FX): 1.1 M
Prelims 2011 avg (Spike): 1.4 M
So the Prelims have dropped about 28% on FS1 from 2012 FX average. Fight Night series is nearly identical since moving from FX @ 28% drop:
UFC FN on FS1 2013 avg: 857,000
UFC on FX 2012 avg: 1.2 M
UFC FN on Spike 2011 avg: 2 M
UFC FN on Spike 2010 avg: 1.5 M
UFC FN on Spike 2009 avg: 2 M
So why almost a doubling in the drop with TUF @ 50%? This is likely due to the lack of perceived interest in WMMA by the masses. It was a good experiment but the UFC might monetize WMMA fans in a better fashion by creating it’s own league or purchasing INVICTA.
Ratings for the finale are in. 1.129 million for the main card, and 938,000 for the prelims according to Carleton Curtis from Fox Sports (https://twitter.com/carletoncurtis). I’m very surprised.
MV,
Just posted a write-up on the TUF Finale rating.