Nearly Three Times As Many Men 18-34 Watch The UFC Than Suns/Heat on ESPN
New York, NY, December 15, 2006 – Spike TV’s telecast of a live UFC Fight Night drew nearly three times as many Men 18-34 than an ESPN telecast featuring two of the NBA’s marquee teams, the defending champion Miami Heat and the first place Phoenix Suns.  The UFC bouts, airing from 8:00-10:00pm on Spike TV and emanating from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, CA, tallied 531,000 Men 18-34 compared to 180,000 for ESPN’s NBA telecast (7:00-9:30pm). 

Overall, the UFC event drew 1.25 household rating, with a 1.63 rating in Men 18-49, a 1.98 in M18-34, a 1.86 in M25-34 and an average audience of 1.6 million viewers. >From 8:00-10:00pm, Spike TV ranked #1 among ad-supported cable networks in all key demographics including Men18-49, M18-34, M12-34, M18-24, M25-34, and M35-49.

The UFC Fight Night’s ratings peaked with 1.8 million viewers for the main event featuring an unforgettable knockout by rising star Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez over UFC veteran Joe Riggs.