MMA Payout has learned through Nielsen sources that Saturday’s UFC 170 Prelims received an average viewership of 936,000. The ratings for the 2 hour prelims on FS1 are up slightly from the UFC 169 Prelims.
UFC Prelims on FS1
UFC 164 809,000
UFC 165 722,000
UFC 166 628,000
UFC 167 998,000
UFC 168 1,554,000
UFC 169 933,000
UFC 170 936,000
UFC on Fox 9 613,000
UFC on Fox 10 713,000
The Prelims final match before the start of the PPV featured Alexis Davis as she narrowly defeated Jessica Eye. It also aired bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao against up and coming prospect Pedro Munhoz.
Payout Perspective:
The Prelims went up against College Basketball on ESPN and the Winter Olympics on NBC. According to TV By the Numbers, Syracuse vs. Duke on ESPN was the highest rated cable program of the night with an average viewership of 4.1 million for a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demo. The game aired during the Prelims on FS1. The ratings are the third best PPV Prelims on FS1.
Good numbers, especially, as you mention, when one considers that it went against the Olympics and college basketball.
And I had no idea that UFC 169 prelims did so well. Certainly the average viewer didn’t tune in for that crop of fighters, so, perhaps, it can be accredited to Faber’s drawing power.
Fishy number? maybe its almost a duplicate of 169, so lets see if 170 PPV numbers are the same as 169.