TUF 20 Premier Draws Nearly 3 Million Viewers

The season-opening two-hour special debuted on FOX Sports 1 Wednesday, Sept. 10 (10:00 PM ET), drawing 536,000 viewers. An encore presentation on Sunday, Sept. 14 on FOX adjacent to NFL on FOX game coverage attracted another 1.735 million viewers. Additional re-airs on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 added 267,000 to the total through Sunday.

The 2.54 million total viewers for the 2014 fall premiere was up +67% over the 2013 fall premiere of TUF season 18, which reached a total of 1.52 million viewers, and up +113% over the premiere episode of TUF season 19 in the spring of 2014, which delivered 1.19 million viewers.

In addition to live plus same day measurements highlighted above, time-shifted viewing for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER is significant. The first three days of DVR viewing for the premiere episode on FOX Sports 1 (9/10) adds an additional 295,000 Persons 2+, up from 266,000 viewers in the spring for TUF 19.

For the first time in history, the new season of THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER features an all-female cast competing in a 115-pound tournament to determine the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion. The 16 women are divided into two teams and are coached by UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and No. 1-ranked lightweight contender Gilbert Melendez, who meet in a championship showdown of their own at the conclusion of the season.

The highly anticipated second episode of THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: A CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED airs tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 17 (10:00 PM ET) on FOX Sports 1. Click on the link to watch the promo for this week’s episode: http://youtu.be/So5u0sNvpHw