Sunday's well-received "UFC Primetime: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos" pre-event special earned a 1.3 household rating and averaged two million viewers.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the Oct. 30 program's ratings information with an industry source.
The one-hour special, which was the first significant UFC programming on the FOX network, scored a 0.98 rating among men 18-49 and a 0.99 among men 18-34.
That means many of the viewers came from demographics that traditionally do poorly with UFC programming.
However, the "Primetime" special either preceded or followed NFL games in most FOX markets, though the times and lead-ins fluctuated wildly. But as a comparison, the primary NFL game at 1 p.m. ET on FOX averaged 17 million viewers.
The UFC special followed UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and top contender Junior Dos Santos as they prepare for the Nov. 12 event, UFC on FOX 1. The event – which is the UFC's first on major network television – takes place at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Only the title fight airs on FOX, and the full undercard streams on FOX.com and Facebook prior to the one-hour network-TV debut.
"UFC Primetime" usually is a three-part weekly series that airs on Spike TV. However, given the UFC's new seven-year deal with FOX (and FX and FUEL TV), and given the need to introduce the UFC's fighting brand to new viewers, "Primetime" was scaled down to a one-hour special for this past weekend's broadcast. The show rightfully has earned rave reviews.
FOX is available in approximately 115 million homes. Spike TV, which is available in approximately 100 million, has averaged 1.9 million viewers for its four UFC Fight Night and The Ultimate Fighter Finale events this year, as well as 1.4 million viewers for this year's two seasons of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. However, specialty programming such as "Countdown" and "Primetime" shows rarely draws more than one million viewers.
Source: 'UFC Primetime: Velasquez vs. Don Santos' ratings: 1.3 HH rating, two million viewers