The overnight ratings are in for ‘UFC On FOX 8’ and show that an average of 2.04 million viewers tuned in to the live broadcast.
The show also pulled an 0.9 rating amongst adults 18-49 which was enough to win the night for that coveted demographic.
While it should be stressed that these are just the early estimates and could increase once the final numbers are established during the week, it still suggests that the ratings could end up being the lowest we’ve seen so far for the UFC On FOX series.
Though last night’s event marks a sharp decline in ratings compared with ‘UFC On FOX 7’ this is not entirely unexpected as last year we saw a similar dip in ratings during the summer, with ‘UFC On FOX 4’ headlined by ‘Shogun’ Rua Vs Brandon Vera doing 2.36 million based on the overnights.
It could be argued that flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson isn’t a big draw for the UFC yet, though that can be countered by the fact his last headline bout on FOX peaked with 5.2 million viewers back in January.
His opponent on this occasion, John Moraga, wasn’t widely known by fans however having only previously fought on the prelims of UFC events, while prior to that Johnson had fought John Dodson who was more recognizable due to having recently won The Ultimate Fighter.
I’d also be interested to see how the ratings grew during last night’s broadcast as it’s possible that the disappointing co-main event between Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger may have proven to be a turn-off for some viewers.
The final numbers should arrive around mid-week and due to the fact that the event over-ran it’s initial 8-10pm ET broadcast it’s possible that could provide a slight boost to the overall audience since that was not factored into the overnights.
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UFC On FOX Ratings So Far:
UFC on FOX 1 (Velasquez vs. Dos Santos) ratings: 5.7 million
UFC on FOX 2 (Evans vs. Davis) ratings: 4.7 million
UFC on FOX 3 (Diaz vs. Miller) ratings: 2.4 million
UFC on FOX 4 (Rua vs. Vera) ratings: 2.4 million
UFC on FOX 5 (Henderson vs. Diaz): 4.4 million
UFC on FOX 6 (Johnson vs. Dodson): 4.2 million
UFC on FOX 7 (Henderson vs. Melendez): 3.7 million
UFC on FOX 7 (Johnson Vs Moraga): 2.04 million (overnights)
