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NEW YORK, NY, June 23, 2009 - This past Saturday, June 20, the UFC was once again the undisputed champion in sports on television among young men. The live finale of the ninth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” airing Saturday June 20 (9:00pm-12:00am), drew more men in the advertiser-coveted demographic of Men 18-34 (663,000) than MLB baseball on FOX (184,000) and coverage of U.S. Open golf on NBC (384,000) which ran earlier that day.
The live UFC fight card, which peaked at 2.8 million viewers for the main event featuring Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida, was the most watched-program in all of television in Men 18-34 and Men 18-49.
Also, bucking the trend of most reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter” finale ratings for season nine were the highest since season six and the full season of 13 episodes were the highest in Men 18-34 since season five, illustrating the growing popularity in the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC brand on Spike.
Overall, the “The Ultimate Fighter: US vs. Team UK” delivered a 1.5 household rating, a 2.1 in Men 18-49 (1.2 million), a 2.3 in M18-34 (663,000), a 2.8 in M25-34 (468,000) and 2.2 million total viewers.
Many had hyped Guida vs. Sanchez as a possible “Fight of the Year” candidate, and the two warriors more than lived up to the hype in a three round war that left the sold out crowd at The Palms Casino Resort clamoring for more, as Sanchez won via split decision in a fifteen minute instant UFC® classic. The fight drew an impressive 3.1 rating in Men 18-34 and 3.3 in Men 25-34.
The card also featured the welterweight and lightweight finals from “The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom,” and colonial rule reigned supreme, as British competitors took home the title in both divisions. Team UK’s James Wilks submitted Team US’s DaMarques Johnson in the first round to take home the welterweight crown, and Team UK’s Ross Pearson defeated teammate Andre Winner to become the lightweight division champion.
“The Joe Rogan Comedy Special,” featuring the renowned UFC® on Spike announcer, leading out of the live finale at midnight, also drew strong ratings with 1.1 million viewers tuning in and a robust 1.2 rating in Men 18-34. The program ranked #1 on cable among Men 18-34 and 18-49.
Spike TV is available in 98 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
