Main Event Becomes The Highest Rated Bout On Any Premium Network In The Past Year;
The Three-Fight Telecast Draws The Highest Rating on SHOWTIME® In More Than Two Years;
All Three Fights On The Live Telecast Rank In The Top-20 Most Watched Bouts On Record For The Network
SHOWTIME Sports garnered a record audience for Saturday’s 2015 SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING premiere telecast headlined by newly minted WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder in his breakout win over Bermane Stiverne. The main event ranks as the highest-rated fight on any premium network in the past 12 months while the entire three-fight telecast becomes the highest rated on SHOWTIME in more than two years. The Jan. 17 telecast attracted the second largest audience since 2004* behind the Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout event from Dec. 2012. (*since Nielsen began to separately measure premium television multiplex channels)
Wilder’s impressive win captured an average audience of 1.24 million viewers, ranked as the fourth highest-rated fight on record for the network, with a peak audience of 1.34 million viewers.
The average individual audiences for each of the three fights on the telecast now rank in the top-20 of the most watched bouts on SHOWTIME since 2009. WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz’s eighth-round TKO of Jesus Ruiz ranks 12th highest while the telecast opener, super lightweight Amir Imam’s fifth-round TKO of Fidel Maldonado Jr. ranks 20th.
The event was co-promoted by Don King Productions and Golden Boy Promotions and took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
