An unappealing card delivered record-low primetime figures for Premier Boxing Champions.
The latest primetime edition of the PBC on FOX earned a 0.6 final rating and 886,000 viewers last Saturday night, down 50% in ratings and 52% in viewership from the network’s previous window in February (1.2, 1.9M).
Compared to the most recent primetime PBC window on broadcast television, on CBS in March, ratings fell 68% from 1.9 and viewership 71% from 3.1 million.
Dating back to the debut of Elite XC on CBS in 2008, Saturday’s telecast ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched primetime fight card on broadcast television — falling well below the previous marks of 0.8 and 1.3 million for another PBC window on NBC last June.
Beyond boxing, few sporting events have ever earned lower numbers on primetime network television. A handful of international soccer matches on FOX have pulled ratings in the 0.5-0.6 and 800-900K range.
A likely culprit for the low numbers was the limited appeal of the main event, Omar Figueroa-Robert Guerrero. The victorious Figueroa had not fought in 19 months and Guerrero, who had not fought in 11, entered having lost four of his last six bouts. That Guerrero was knocked down five times in a three-round TKO did not help either.
[Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 7.18; fight info from USA Today 7.15]
