Spike TV officials told SB Nation MMA today the ratings for the portion of the UFC 129 preliminary card that aired on their channel pulled in a 1.0 household rating for the broadcast. The hour long special drew a 1.3 rating in men 18-49 and a 1.5 in men 18-34 years of age. The average audience number was 1.5 million viewers. According to Spike TV, among basic cable networks, Spike ranked number one among men 18-49 and 18-34 in the time period.
UFC 129 Spike Prelim Fights Pulls 1.5 Million Viewers
By comparison, here's how the last UFC event to also air preliminary fights live on Spike, UFC 128, fared in the ratings:
The UFC 128 Prelims Live drew an average of 1.3 million viewers over the hour-long telecast, just below the series average of 1.45 million viewers per episode.
This past weekend's "UFC Prelims" broadcast on Spike TV, which coincided with the Feb. 5 "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort" event, scored a series-high 2 million viewers.
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Overall, the Spike TV broadcast earned a 1.2 household rating, including an impressive 1.7 among men 18-49. The one-hour broadcast was the highest-rated program in its timeslot among men 18-49 and men 18-34.
UFC 127's prelim fights aired on ION.
This number for UFC 129 should be considered a respectable rating. The fights had to compete for attention in the days preceding with the NFL draft, which slightly damped interest among casual UFC fans in the U.S. The Spike fights also started an hour early to accommodate the new UFC pay-per-view start time of 9 p.m. Given those two key considerations, this is a respectable showing.
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