Fox Sports 1 celebrated the July 4th holiday weekend as never before with Red, White & Fight Week, a massive dose of UFC(R) programming, highlighted by the UFC 175 PRELIMS and The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE, plus a pair of 90-minute specials, all live from Las Vegas. Fox Sports 1 aired 44 hours of UFC programming, 16 of which were live, between July 2 and July 6, televising three live fight events and eight live, non-event programs, the volume, promotion and quality of which resulted in several notable audience achievements.
Red, White & Fight Week was anchored by three live fight events: UFC 175 PRELIMS,
The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE PRELIMS and
The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE. Eight non-event programs, most hosted by Jay Glazer with Daniel Cormier and Brian Stann, provided support programming: UFC 175 WEIGH-IN on AMERICA'S PREGAME, TUF FINALE WEIGH-IN, UFC 175 PREFIGHT SHOW, UFC 175 POSTFIGHT SHOW, TUF FINALE PREFIGHT SHOW and TUF FINALE post-fight coverage in the body of
Fox Sports LIVE. Two shows developed specifically for Red, White & Fight Week were UFC TONIGHT: SPECIAL FRIDAY EDITION (live from UFC 175 Weigh-In stage) and UFC TONIGHT: SPECIAL SUNDAY EDITION (from main stage at UFC Fan Expo).
"Being the exclusive home of the UFC is clearly paying dividends for all parties, and Red, White & Fight Week is a great example of how
Fox Sports worked with the UFC build a programming event where the sum of the parts is greater than any one fight," said David Nathanson, General Manager and COO,
Fox Sports 1 and
Fox Sports 2. "We're now looking forward to Red, White & Fight Week being a major highlight of our summer schedule for many years to come."
FOX Sports mobilized the promotional power of its two national sports channels, 15 regional sports networks, and its radio, digital and social platforms to raise awareness for Red, White & Fight Week. Over 2500 Red, White & Fight Week promos ran across
Fox Sports 1 &
Fox Sports 2, and more than 300 ran across 15
Fox Sports RSNs. Lower-third graphics with live reads promoting Red, White & Fight Week were inserted into over 100 games and programs. In the days prior to the event, hourly live radio reads occurred across 360
Fox Sports Radio network stations. In the two-week lead-up, FOXSports.com established a dedicated microsite to provide digital support and along with UltimateFighter.com featured more than 30 videos, interviews and articles dedicated to Red, White & Fight Week. Addition support came via social media through the
Fox Sports Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
Youtube accounts.
Television Audience Highlights:
- Among Adults 18-49,
Fox Sports 1 was the No. 1 ad-supported cable sports network in prime time three of the last ten days: 6/28, 7/5 and 7/6.
- On Friday (7/4), the UFC 175 WEIGH-IN on AMERICA'S PREGAME scored 205,000 viewers making it the most-watched edition of AMERICA'S PREGAME since its premiere.
- On Saturday (7/5), UFC 175 PRELIMS recorded 1,010,000 viewers and is the second-most watched UFC PPV Prelim card in
Fox Sports 1 history behind UFC 168 PRELIMS (1,554,000).
-
Fox Sports 1 was the No. 1 ad-supported cable sports network from 8:00-10:00 PM on Saturday night (7/5) and No. 12 out of all 103 Nielsen-rated cable networks in that time period.
- Sunday (7/6) is the second-most watched Sunday in
Fox Sports 1 history, averaging 289,000 viewers (6:00 AM ET-6:00 AM ET).
-
The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE PRELIMS and
The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE propelled
Fox Sports 1 to the top spot among all ad-supported cable sports networks on Sunday (7/6) from 7:00 PM ET-12:00 AM ET in A18-34 (270,000), A18-49 (583,000), A25-54 (577,000), M18-34 (168,000), M18-49 (404,000) and M25-54 (396,000).
-
The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE main card scored 1,016,000 viewers and key young demos were up compared to the Season 18 finale: A18-34, +13% (321,000 vs. 285,000); A18-49, +4% (678,000 vs. 653,000); and M18-34, +13% (203,000 vs. 179,000).
- Following
The Ultimate Fighter SEASON 19 FINALE,
Fox Sports Live averaged 391,000 viewers from 11:39 PM ET-12:47 AM ET, making it the most-watched Sunday edition of
Fox Sports Live ever and the ninth most-watched overall.
Source: Nielsen
Digital Audience Highlights:
- In addition to big television audiences, the UFC Channel on FOXSports.com also saw spikes generated by Red, White & Fight Week.
- On 7/5, FOXSports.com/UFC posted its largest Saturday of 2014 based on unique visitors and visits, and outperformed its average Saturday
Fight Night traffic in 2014 by +159%.
- On 7/6. FOXSports.com/UFC scored its best Sunday of 2014 based on unique visitors, visits and page views.
- 7/6 is the second largest day in 2014 for FOXSports.com/UFC (trailing only 4/21), and is the fifth largest Sunday on record for the channel overall.
- Key traffic driver on 7/6 was coverage of Ronda Rousey's quick and epic KO of Alexis Davis.
- 395% more visits compared to prior Sundays following Saturday Fight Nights this year.
- In terms of visits, 7/6 is now FOXSports.com/UFC's No. 1
The Ultimate Fighter FINALE day ever.
- "Ronda Reacts to her Epic KO" is currently the No. 1 UFC video on FOXSports.com for 2014 year-to-date.
- Sunday 7/6 was the biggest day ever for FightTrax, while Saturday 7/5 was FightTrax' second biggest day.
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