MMAPayout has learned from Nielsen sources that UFC on FOX 10: Henderson vs Thomson did a 1.9 national rating and an average of 3.2M viewers.
The 3.2 million viewersship number was upgraded greatly from the initial overnight rating of 2.55M viewers, which did not factor in the overrun and West Coast viewership. UFC on FOX 10 ratings are +12% from UFC on FOX 9: Johnson vs Benavidez (1.8 rating, 2.8M) last quarter, but are -21% from UFC on FOX 6: Johnson vs Dodson (2.43 rating, 4.22M), which aired in Q1 of last year.
For the night, UFC on FOX 10 finished second in total viewers to CBS but was first in the A18-49 demo with a 1.47 rating and in the M18-49 demo doing a very healthy 2.05 rating. Winning the A18-49 demo despite only doing a 0.89 rating in the Women 18-49 demo really shows how strong their pull is with the Male 18-49 demographic.
The prelims for UFC on FOX 10, which aired on FS1 before the FOX portion, drew 713,000 average viewers.
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UFC on FOX Ratings:
UFC on FOX 1: 5.70M viewers (3.1 rating)
UFC on FOX 2: 4.70M viewers (2.6 rating)
UFC on FOX 3: 2.42M viewers (1.5 rating)
UFC on FOX 4: 2.44M viewers (1.4 rating)
UFC on FOX 5: 4.40M viewers (2.5 rating)
UFC on FOX 6: 4.22M viewers (2.4 rating)
UFC on FOX 7: 3.70M viewers (2.2 rating)
UFC on FOX 8: 2.38M viewers (1.5 rating)
UFC on FOX 9: 2.80M viewers (1.8 rating)
UFC on FOX 10: 3.22M viewers (1.9 rating)
Average UFC on FOX Viewership: 3.6M viewers.
Payout Perspective:
This is now the second lowest rating for an NFL season promoted UFC on FOX event, only edging out the previous UFC on FOX 9. The problem with the last two numbers is that the next couple of shows will not have the benefit of the NFL season promotion from FOX, which historically indicates that the numbers will dip considerably.
The lack of UFC stars due to injury, retirement, or leaving to sign with Bellator has left the UFC with a limited supply of stars, which has recently impaired the booking of headliners. The next UFC on FOX event, UFC on FOX 11, will be held in Orlando, Florida on April 19th. That event will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum, which indicates that no titles will be on the line but perhaps can be promoted as a #1 contender bout for the UFC HW title.
I still am not sold on the impact of the NFL season. There might be some but I doubt it is as effective as people think. The UFC has always put on stronger cards during the NFL season events that have got the stronger numbers. Every event reflects the card regardless of when the event ran. Mighty Mouse last fight lost viewers compared to his Fox fight before that because he didn’t have a Rampage in a going away fight. It is promising that this ratings beat last Fox event without a title fight and a weak card. It may suggest Bendo was able to retain some of his following from his title run and previous appearance on FOX. This was probably the 2nd worst card on FOX. But it beat out 4 other events. Not to bad. It continues the UFC run of improved numbers over the last 6 months.
Que Tops, Sampson, and what ever the names of the other basement dwellers are….
Garbage