UFC 200 Prelim TV Ratings Peak at 2 Million-Plus Viewers for Zingano vs. Pena

An epic weekend of live UFC events, including The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale and the highly anticipated UFC 200, set a viewership record on FS2 and delivered impressive numbers on FS1, according to Nielsen Media Research.

On Saturday, July 9, as a Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians ran long on FS1, the first 32 minutes of the UFC 200 PRELIMS moved to FS2 from 8:00 PM ET to 8:32 PM ET and tallied 582,000 viewers and 379,000 in the Adults 18-49 demo, making it the most-watched telecast in FS2 history in both metrics.

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The final 89 minutes of the UFC 200 PRELIMS ran on FS1 and garnered 1,786,000 viewers, making it the third-most watched UFC PPV PRELIMS telecast in FS1 history, behind UFC 194 (1,931,000) and UFC 196 (1,843,000 viewers). The show peaked with 2,046,000 viewers from 9:45 PM ET – 10:00 PM ET. Among A18-49, it is now the most-watched UFC PPV PRELIMS ever with 1,084,000 viewers. FS1 was the most-watched ad supported cable network among A18-49 for the 8:00 PM ET – 10:00 PM ET time period. The FS1 UFC 200 POSTFIGHT SHOW posted 244,000 viewers.

On Friday, July 8, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE main card (10:00 PM ET – 1:00 AM ET) averaged 1,086,000 viewers, making it the most-watched ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE on FS1 since the first fall 2013 season featuring Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate scored 1,129,000 viewers. It also saw gains of +57% in viewers versus last year’s spring ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE (691,000) and among A18-49 was up +68% (657,000 vs. 390,000). The main card viewership peaked between 12:45 AM ET – 1:00 AM ET with 1,325,000 viewers.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE coverage led FS1 to the top spot among cable sports networks in total viewership and A18-49 between 8:00 PM ET – 1:15 AM ET.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE PRELIMS from 8:00 PM ET – 10:00 PM ET drew 642,000 viewers and 352,000 in the A18-49 demo, up +37% in viewers (470,000) and up +42% in A18-49 (248,000) from last year’s spring THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER PRELIMS on Sunday, July 12. THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE POSTFIGHT SHOW delivered 310,000 viewers.

The action keeps rolling this week with a special Wednesday FS1 UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MCDONALD VS. LINEKER, headlined by a key bantamweight matchup between No. 5-ranked Michael McDonald and No. 8 John Lineker live from Sioux Falls, S.D., beginning at 6:00 PM ET.

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