Aided by a strong lead-in, the UFC on ESPN era opened on a positive note last weekend.
ESPN scored a 1.2 rating and 1.96 million viewers for UFC Fight Night prelims Saturday night, up 144% in ratings and 116% in viewership from UFC PPV prelims on FS1 the comparable night last year (0.48, 905K).
It was the most-watched UFC telecast since UFC on FOX 29 last April (2.04M), topping the final two UFC on FOX main events in December (1.1, 1.82M) and last July (1.0, 1.68M).
According to Wrestling Observer, viewership was the highest for any UFC prelims — including those preceding pay-per-view events — since 2011 on then-Spike TV.
Ratings surely benefited from the Virginia-Duke college basketball lead-in, which had a 2.3 and 3.76 million.
It is almost certain that the UFC prelims had a larger audience than the main event, which aired on the ESPN Plus subscription service. ESPN Plus generated 568,000 sign-ups in the 48 hours leading into the main event, a figure unlikely to translate into two million viewers — even taking into account viewing parties.
The numbers pale in comparison to the first UFC on FOX event in November 2011, which had a 3.1 and 5.68 million, though it should be noted that was a main event.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 1.23, Wrestling Observer 1.23]
