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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC's 2013 schedule on Fox started strong, seeing an increase in viewership from December's UFC on Fox 5 card. According to TVByTheNumbers.com, overnight ratings for Saturday's Fox broadcast show an average of 3.76 million viewers, up from the overnight 3.41 for UFC on Fox 5.
Additionally, the UFC broadcast garnered an increase in the key adults 18-49 demographic, drawing a 1.8, up from UFC on Fox 5's 1.6. Peak numbers and west coast viewership will come later this week. December's event ultimately averaged 4.4 million viewers, with the main event (running over) drew an average of 5.7 million viewers.
Saturday's broadcast - headlined by a Flyweight Championship bout between Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson, along with Rampage Jackson's final UFC bout - is on pace to out-draw that card, and could ultimately best last January's UFC on Fox 2 event as the second highest rating they've drawn on the network.
Penick's Analysis: This is a great number for the UFC. There was no telling how weel the flyweights might draw on Fox, or whether people would be more inclined to tune in for Rampage, and we'll see if we get quarterly breakdowns where the viewership was at. Regardless, this is a fantastic number, and the UFC gaining viewers from event to event on Fox is a positive step forward. With another big event in April, they could continue gaining traction and will hopefully draw another significant number. As it stands, they destroyed the competition in their key demos, and that's exactly what they expect to do right now.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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