The UFC announced yesterday that three fights, including Sweden’s own Alexander Gustafsson’s bout, will be shown live on ION television. Based on previous “live prelims”, primarily shown on Spike previously, the rising Nordic star will get exposed to approximately 1 million viewers in the US.
Although ION is relatively unknown as a brand and channel, ION Media Networks is a huge network. On their corporate website, it describes itself as a “privately-owned, independent network television broadcasting company that owns and operates the largest broadcast television station group in the U.S., reaching over 98 million homes in the U.S. via broadcast, cable, and satellite distribution systems.” Of the these 98 million homes, it was reported by MMAJunkie that the debut of the live prelim fights on ION had 829,000 viewers for UFC 125. It would be safe to estimate that “The Mauler” versus James Te Huna, and the other two bouts, will be attract viewers in this ballpark. As reported by MMAJunkie.com, below are preliminary viewers in the US for previous airings.
TOP PRELIM VIEWERS
1) UFC 109 (February 2010): 1.7 million viewers
2) UFC 114 (May 2010): 1.6 million viewers
3) UFC 108 (January 2010): 1.5 million viewers
4) UFC 121 (October 2010): 1.5 million viewers
5) UFC 123 (November 2010): 1.5 million viewers
6) UFC 104 (October 2009): 1.4 million viewers
7) UFC 103 (September 2009): 1.4 million viewers
8 ) UFC 119 (September 2010): 1.3 million viewers
9) UFC 116 (July 2010): 1.3 million viewers
10) UFC 115 (June 2010): 1.3 million viewers
11) UFC 106 (November 2009): 1.3 million viewers
12) UFC 111 (March 2010): 1.2 million viewers
13) UFC 118 (August 2010): 1.1 million viewers
14) UFC 125 (January 2011): 829,000 viewers*
* – Aired on ION Television
While a Spike TV (all of these events have had at least 1.1 million viewers) or a Facebook viewing option (no data has been released regarding viewer) would provide a bigger opportunity, the ION broadcast (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) will still help expose the US market to the Scandinavia fighter.
