|
'The Ultimate Fighter 2' Finale on Spike TV Knocks Out College Football With Men 18-24
Finale Drew More Men 18-24 Than Highly Touted College Football Match-Ups
Virginia Tech-Miami and Notre Dame-Tennessee
Over 2.6 Million Tuned In to See Dramatic Conclusion to Spike TV's
Highly-Rated Series on Saturday, November 5
Largest Audience Ever to Watch a LIVE UFC Fight
NEW YORK, Nov. 8 -- The LIVE finale of Spike TV's The
Ultimate Fighter 2 drew 2,640,000 million viewers on Saturday, November 5
(9:00-12:00 Midnight ET/PT), making it the most watched fight in UFC history.
The three-hour climax to the highly-rated Spike TV reality series, The
Ultimate Fighter 2, drew more Men 18-24 than anything else on television*
including the highly touted college football match-ups Virginia Tech vs. Miami
on ESPN and Notre Dame vs. Tennessee on NBC. Overall, the telecast tallied a
2.0 household rating (1,785,000).
"The fact we drew more hard-to-reach young male viewers than college
football on Saturday illustrates that the UFC and the sport of mixed martial
arts fighting has truly arrived," says Kevin Kay, General Manager, Spike TV.
"The finale of The Ultimate Fighter 2 is not the end of the story for
these guys, it's the beginning," said Dana White, UFC President and host of
The Ultimate Fighter 2. "Just like Season 1's Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar,
Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian have gone on to big things in the UFC, now
Season 2's Rashad Evans and Joe Stevenson join them as the new stars of the
sport. Fans will be seeing more of Luke Cummo and Brad Imes who really brought
their 'A game' to the 2.6 million viewers who tuned in."
Other ratings highlights include the following:
-- Triple digit gains in key male demos and viewership versus year ago --
3.7/956,000 Men 18-34 up +357%; 2.7/1,401,000 Men 18-49 up +303%; and
2,640,000 million viewers up +264% (all versus year ago -- Spike TV
aired WWE Velocity and Police Videos).
-- Telecast peaked at 3.3 million viewers from 10:45-11:00pm during
Rashad Evans/Brad Imes heavyweight bout.
-- Second most-watched original series in network history (finale of The
Joe Schmo Show -- 3.4 million viewers)
-- Most watched Saturday in Spike TV history -- 1,042,000 average
audience (9:00am-3:00am)
-- Outdrew Showtime's live IBF Super-Middleweight title fight featuring
Jeff Lacy vs. Scott Pemberton in Men 18-34 by an incredibly staggering
956,000 to 9,000 and equally startling in Men 18-24 with 430,000 to
1,000 for Showtime.
The record-breaking fight night from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in
Las Vegas featured Rashad Evans winning the Heavyweight Ultimate Fighter crown
by out-pointing Brad Imes via split decision in a classic three-round
slugfest. Joe "Daddy" Stevenson also won via points, unanimously outscoring
Luke Cummo to earn this season's welterweight crown. Both Evans and Stevenson
took home six figure UFC contracts with their victories, as well as Toyota
Scion automobiles. In the card's main event, Diego Sanchez proved that he is a
legitimate contender to the welterweight crown held by Matt Hughes as he
scored a shutout three round decision over heated rival Nick Diaz.
The live finale was the culmination of the 13-week series featuring
eighteen men from across North America in a fierce battle for a six-figure
contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (TM).
Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, Frank Fertitta III,
Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White of Zuffa, LLC and Kevin Kay of Spike TV are
the executive producers for "The Ultimate Fighter 2." Brian J. Diamond is Vice
President, Sports & Specials, Spike TV and serves as Executive in Charge of
Production for Spike TV.
Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 88 million homes and
is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom
International Inc.
*data for some late-night broadcast shows not available
SOURCE Spike TV
Web Site: http://www.spiketv.com
|
