The UFC attracted nearly two million viewers to the brand new Fox Sports 1 channel Saturday night. In other news, the “Fox Sports Live” show was unsurprisingly a much bigger draw than comparable Speed Channel programming, and the start of the EPL season had a big increase on new broadcast partner NBC.
UFC Helps FS1 to Solid Night in Primetime
- The debut of the UFC on Fox Sports 1 averaged 1.8 million viewers on Saturday night, topping all-but-one UFC telecast on previous broadcaster FX. FS1 averaged 1.7 million viewers in primetime, easily topping the combined audience on Speed Channel, Fuel TV and Fox Soccer one year earlier (141K). Saturday’s UFC telecast was not the most-viewed sporting event of the year on FS1/Speed — the NASCAR All-Star Race in May earned 3.7 million viewers. (Fox Sports)
“Fox Sports Live” Improves on Speed Numbers
- Following UFC action Saturday night, the series premiere of “Fox Sports Live” drew 476,000 viewers on FS1. During the comparable period last year, Speed Channel averaged 201,000 viewers in the timeslot. (Fox Sports)
Premier League Overnights Up Two-Thirds on NBC
- In Saturday’s other debut, the first day of the English Premier League season averaged a 0.5 overnight rating on NBC and NBC Sports Network Saturday, up 67% from comparable coverage on Fox Soccer and ESPN2 last year (0.3). In particular, NBC’s Swansea/Manchester United match earned a 0.8 overnight. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
