UFC 196 took place this past weekend at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and the televised preliminary card is the second most-watched UFC pay-per-view preliminary card in FS1 history.
According to a FOX Sports press release issued on Wednesday, the average viewership for the two hour televised preliminary card (8-10 p.m. ET) averaged 1,843,000 viewers and among Adults 18-49, the UFC 196 prelims is the most-watched pay-per-view preliminary card in FS1 history with 1,074,000 viewers.
Other notes on the UFC ratings per FOX Sports:
– The FS1 UFC 196 Pre-Fight Show on Saturday evening (6:48 PM ET – 8:00 PM ET) scored 767,000 viewers, according to Nielsen, making it the most-viewed prefight show in FS1 history, besting the network’s UFC 181 Pre-Fight Show on Dec. 6, 2014 for Hendricks vs. Lawler II (606,000).
– The UFC 196 Weigh-In Show set high marks on both FS1 and FS2, with the replay on FS1 at 10:00 PM ET on Friday, March 4 pulling in 358,000 viewers, making it the most-watched ever Weigh-In Show, besting the UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor Weigh-Ins live on Dec. 11, 2015 (294,000). The live airing on FS2 at 7:00 PM ET delivered 145,000 viewers, making it the most-watched weigh-in in the net’s history.
– A replay of UFC Countdown Friday on FS1 delivered a show-record 320,000 viewers. The previous high mark was on Jan. 31, 2015 for UFC Countdown: UFC 183: Silva vs. Diaz with 279,000 viewers.
– On Saturday night, FS1 was No. 1 among all cable and broadcast networks in the Adults 18-49 demo from 8:00 PM ET to 10:00 PM ET, peaking with 2,082,000 viewers between 9:30-9:45pm ET.
– FS1’s UFC 196 Post Fight Show delivered 377,000 viewers to beat UFC 194 Post Fight Show for Aldo vs. McGregor (344,000 viewers), and is the fifth-most watched Post Fight Show to date on the network.
– Digitally, UFC 196-related videos delivered 60 million total views across FOX Sports digital platforms, up +120% compared to UFC 194 (27M).
– FOX UFC Insider Ariel Helwani’s one-on-one interview with Conor McGregor following McGregor’s loss, garnered 14.8 million views making it the best performing video for FOX’s UFC Facebook page to date.
The next UFC event to air on FS1 will be next Saturday as UFC Fight Night 85 comes from Australia and will be headlined by a heavyweight bout as former title challenger Mark Hunt meets former UFC champion Frank Mir in a bout scheduled for five rounds.