Overnight numbers for Saturday night’s UFC on FOX 12 show were the second lowest in the series history, but with the main event starting at 9:53 p.m. and the overnights only covering up until 10 p.m.,, the final number would be expected to be considerably higher.
The numbers are in for UFC on FOX 12 and the preliminary figures are 2.02 million viewers and an 0.8 in the coveted 18-49 demographic, according to TV By The Numbers.
For the night, FOX and NBC both tied for first place in the key demo at 0.8. Since most of the main event is not figured into these numbers, nor the West Coast viewership, FOX likely will win the key demo. for the night. For overall viewers, based on the fast nationals, NBC averaged 4.00 million, paced by a two-hour episode of Dateline, which appeals to an older audience base than UFC. CBS averaged 2.58 million viewers and ABC averaged 1.87 million viewers.
The number beat only the most recent UFC on FOX show, on April 19, headlined by Fabricio Werdum vs. Travis Browne with a heavyweight title shot at stake, that did 1.99 million viewers. It is also along the same lines as last year’s July show, which featured a Demetrious Johnson flyweight title defense against John Moraga, that did 2.08 million in the fast nationals.
UFC on FOX 12 was headlined by a welterweight non-title bout between Robbie Lawler and Matt Brown with a welterweight championship shot at stake. While many observers expected the bout to end early, it went the full five rounds with Lawler earning the unanimous decision win.
Most of the main event, which didn’t start until 9:53 p.m., was not figured into the overnight rating, which only measures the 8-10 p.m. time slot for FOX in the Eastern time zone, the 7-9 p.m. slot in the Central time zone, and the 6-8 p.m. slot in the Mountain time zone.
The rating measures the 8-10 p.m. slot in the Pacific time zone, but the UFC aired from 5-7:30 p.m. so it measures the audience the local affiliates aired in that slot, which is why the first figure can often change significantly when the final numbers come in.
The final ratings number, which will be out on Monday or Tuesday, is expected to be higher given the West Coast viewership and the second through fifth round of the main event figured in.
Based on available numbers, the show did 1.55 million viewers from 8-8:30 p.m., 1.97 million from 8:30-9 p.m., 2.26 million from 9-9:30 p.m. and 2.23 million from 9:30 to 10 p.m.
The actual fights saw Bobby Green’s win over Josh Thomson take place from 8:20 to 8:38 p.m., Dennis Bermudez win over Clay Guida was from 8:53 to 9:03 p.m., and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s quick knockout of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira from 9:20 to 9:21 p.m.
Overnight ratings figures for the first ten UFC on FOX events is as follows:
– UFC on FOX 1: 5.7 million average viewership, 3.1 rating in adults 18-49.
Date: November 12, 2011, headlined by Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos
– UFC on FOX 2: 4.57 million average viewership, 2.2 rating in adults 18-49.
Date: January 28, 2012, headlined by Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
– UFC on FOX 3: 2.25 million average viewership, 1.0 rating in adults 18-49
Date: May 5, 2012, headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller
– UFC on FOX 4: 2.36 million average viewership, 0.9 rating in adults 18-49
Date: August 4, 2012, headlined by Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Brandon Vera
– UFC on FOX 5: 3.41 million average viewership, 1.6 rating in adults 18-49
Date: December 8, 2012, headlined by Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz
– UFC on FOX 6: 3.77 million average viewership, 1.7 rating in adults 18-49
Date: January 26, 2013, headlined by Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson
– UFC on FOX 7: 3.3 million average viewership, 1.6 rating in adults 18-49
Date: April 20, 2013, headlined by Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez
– UFC on Fox 8: 2.08 million average viewership, .9 rating in adults 18-49
Date: July 27th, 2013 headlined by Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga
– UFC on FOX 9: 2.41 million average viewership, 1.0 rating in adults 18-49
Date: December 14th, 2013, headlined by Demetrious Johnson vs. Joseph Benavidez
– UFC on FOX 10: 2.55 million average viewership, 1.1 rating in adults 18-49
Date: January 25th, 2014, headlined by Ben Henderson vs. Josh Thomson
– UFC on FOX 11: 1.99 million average viewership, .8 rating in adults 18-49
Date: April 19th, 2014, headlined by Fabricio Werdum vs. Travis Browne