The Mixed Martial Arts debut of former NFL star Herschel Walker did well for Showtime on Saturday night.
Showtime drew 517,000 viewers for its Strikeforce: Miami telecast on Saturday night, up 52% from 341,000 for Strikeforce: Evolution on the same network in December. The 517,000 viewers is the second most for an MMA telecast on Showtime, behind only Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.
The bout between Walker and Greg Nagy drew 511,000 viewers from 10:43-10:54 PM, slightly below the average for the entire telecast.
Meanwhile, the Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos/Marloes Coenen bout that followed (10:54-11:11 PM) drew 604,000 viewers.
Also on Saturday night, Spike TV drew 2.2 million viewers for a replay of a pay-per-view UFC bout from December. Keep in mind Spike TV, a basic cable network, is in more homes than Showtime, which is premium cable.
