The final UFC event of 2016 took place this past Friday night and the televised preliminary card on FS1 (1,511,000 viewers) is now the eighth most-watched preliminary card ever on the cable sports network.
The viewership for the preliminary card was announced by FOX Sports in a press release on Wednesday and the peak viewership of the broadcast came in the 9:45-10:00 p.m. ET quarter hour with 1,848,000 viewers during the Neil Magny vs. Johny Hendricks bout.
Along with announcing the average and peak viewership, FOX Sports also announced several other details about the UFC 207 ratings including where the pre-fight and post fight viewership ranks in the history of the sports network.
- Following Amanda Nunes’ shocking 48-second defeat of Rousey on Pay-Per-View, the FS1 UFC 207 Post Fight Show tallied 404,000 viewers, a +166% jump over the comparable Jan. 2, 2016 post fight show (for UFC 195) and good for the fourth most-watched post fight show in FS1 history. Among Adults 18-49, it was up +157% over the Jan. 2, 2016 post fight show (234,000 vs. 91,000).
- The FS1 UFC 207 prelims scored 1,511,000 viewers on Friday, making it the eighth most-watched prelims ever on the network. It was up +46% over the 1,032,000 viewers for the comparable FS1 UFC 195 prelims on Jan. 2, 2016. Among A18-49, the prelims were up +42% (813,000 vs. 572,000). The FS1 UFC 207 prelims peaked with 1,848,000 viewers between 9:45 – 10:00 PM ET.
- Intrigue heading into the evening’s fights was strong on the network as well. The FS1 UFC 207 Pre-Fight Show logged 572,000 viewers, making it the fifth most-watched Pre-Fight show in FS1 history. The FS1 UFC 207 Weigh-In Show garnered 216,000 viewers, up +23% against the 176,000 viewers for the lone UFC weigh-in last January that aired on a Friday.
So what’s does the viewership from the UFC 207 prelims on FS1 tell us about what the pay-per-view buy rate could be? Expect a big number, but I do not expect it to be a number higher than any pay-per-view headlined by Conor McGregor in 2016.