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[11/08/05 - 12:00 AM]
The Ultimate Fighter 2' Finale on Spike TV Knocks Out College Football with Men 18-24
[via press release from Spike TV]

'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





  [november 2005]  
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· ULTIMATE FIGHTER, THE (ESPN)




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