UFC 103’s Preliminary Card On Spike TV Gets 1.4 Million Viewers
UFC 103 Poster
The UFC tried a new tactic last event by broadcasting a couple of fights from their pay-per-view preliminary card on Spike TV, and it drew approximately 1.4 million viewers.
The one-hour special aired live at 9 p.m. before “UFC 103: Franklin vs Belfort” as an attempt to entice more PPV buys. UFC president Dana White said he does not know if the organization will do this again for other events.
The program went head to head with college football games on other stations. The preliminary card bouts earned a higher rating than ESPN2’s Auburn vs West Virginia game, but earned less than the top ranked program on Saturday night ABC’s coverage of Texas vs Texas Tech.
With more viewers than the number of pay-per-views usually purchased, the UFC would probably consider the program a success. And scoring the #2 program of the night, Spike TV is not complaining either.
