Spike TV draws 1.5 million viewers for UFC 129 "UFC Prelims" special

http://mmajunkie.com/news/23469/spike-tv-draws-1-5-million-viewers-for-ufc-129-ufc-prelims-special.mma

With one of the biggest pay-per-view events in UFC history, ratings for Spike TV's "UFC Prelims" special felt the benefits.

This past weekend's one-hour special, which featured two live bouts from the "UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields" event, scored a 1.0 household rating and 1.5 million viewers, which ranks it fourth among the 18 total "UFC Prelims" specials.

Spike TV today emailed the ratings information to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The ratings were up solidly from UFC 128's " UFC Prelims" special, which netted 1.3 million viewers. The UFC 129 special also earned a 1.3 rating among men 18-49 and 1.5 among men 18-34. Both were tops in their timeslot among cable stations.

This past week's one-hour UFC 129 special featured Rory MacDonald's rousing decision victory over Nate Diaz, as well as Jake Ellenberger's violent knockout of Sean Pierson.

UFC 129 also featured five fights that streamed live on Facebook, though the promotion does not reveal the number of online viewers for the specials.

To date, Spike TV has aired 16 "UFC Prelims" broadcasts (ION Television also aired two). The all-time record for viewership was set in February when 2 million viewers tuned into a "UFC Prelims" special for UFC 126.

The full list of "UFC Prelims" broadcasts and ratings as compiled by MMAjunkie.com includes:

* 01) UFC 126 (February 2011): 2 million viewers
* 02) UFC 109 (February 2010): 1.7 million
* 03) UFC 114 (May 2010): 1.6 million
* 04) UFC 129 (April 2010): 1.5 million
* 04) UFC 108 (January 2010): 1.5 million
* 04) UFC 121 (October 2010): 1.5 million
* 04) UFC 123 (November 2010): 1.5 million
* 08) UFC 104 (October 2009): 1.4 million
* 08) UFC 103 (September 2009): 1.4 million
* 10) UFC 128 (March 2011): 1.3 million
* 10) UFC 119 (September 2010): 1.3 million
* 10) UFC 116 (July 2010): 1.3 million
* 10) UFC 115 (June 2010): 1.3 million
* 10) UFC 106 (November 2009): 1.3 million
* 15) UFC 111 (March 2010): 1.2 million
* 16) UFC 118 (August 2010): 1.1 million
* 17) UFC 125 (January 2011): 829,000*
* 18) UFC 127 (February 2011): 714,000*

* - Aired on ION Television

The UFC first offered a PPV teaser broadcast for UFC 103, when the UFC went head-to-head on Spike TV with a boxing PPV broadcast featuring Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. The specials proved effective enough at generating last-minute PPV buys that officials from the UFC and the organization's longtime cable partner decided to make them a regular offering.

not bad, those viewers got some kick ass fights

http://www.mmamania.com/2011/6/1/2200919/ufc-130-prelims-broadcast-averages-1-3-million-viewers-on-spike-tv
Spike TV's "UFC Prelims" special for UFC 130: "Rampage vs. Hamill" on May 28, 2011, averaged 1.3 million viewers, down from the 1.5 million it scored for the UFC 129: "St. Pierre vs. Shields" undercard offering back on March 19.
The two-fight broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, featured bantamweight "Mighty Mouse" Demetrious Johnson outpointing former WEC 135-pound champion Miguel Torres.
Also making some noise on free TV was a leaner and meaner Tim Boetsch, who knocked around fellow middleweight Kendall Grove for three rounds to earn the unanimous decision win.
"UFC Prelims" for May 28 pulled in a 0.9 household rating including a 1.03 in both Men 18-49 and Men 18-34.

thought mighty mouse vs torres would pull better numbers but with grove and whats his name? it was expected

The actual fights broadcasted have never made a big difference with these numbers. Its more about how big the PPV itself is and some other random factors. Numbers that blow away every other Spike prelim special for Mendes-Omigawa and Cerrone-Kelly? Aight

Wow they really don't seem to at all, just looked up the top 3.