Hey, good news on ratings for Fox Sports 1; Baylor-OU leads to big week

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Dumping on Fox Sports 1 for its lack of ratings figures to be good sport for quite a while on the media front. So the network will seize on any opportunity to report some good news.

As I have previously written, for all its studio shows and its version of SportsCenter, it is going to take strong live programming to drive viewers to Fox Sports 1. Fans will come for the game, race, or fight and then perhaps stay to sample other items on the network’s menu.

Last week was a perfect example. Here’s the official rundown from Fox Sports 1:

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Powered by a record-setting audience for Oklahoma – Baylor, plus major UFC and NASCAR events, FOX Sports 1 posted its most-watched week ever from Nov. 4-10, both in prime time and total day.  The channel averaged 630,000 viewers in prime time and 157,000 viewers total day last week surpassing its previous best week, Aug. 26-Sept. 1 (384,000 prime; 153,000 total day), and beating SPEED’s fourth quarter 2012 averages by 237% in prime and 60% in total day.  Highlights are as follows:

Oklahoma vs. Baylor on Thursday (11/7) is now FOX Sports 1’s most-watched telecast ever with 2.1 million viewers, surpassing every college football game on FX in 2011 and 2012, and the channel’s previous record of 1.8 million viewers for UFC FIGHT NIGHT on launch day, Aug. 17.

Wednesday’s (11/6) UFC Fight for the Troops scored 641,000 viewers (FOX Sports 1’s most-watched Wednesday evening card), while Saturday’s (11/9) UFC Fight Night delivered 722,000 viewers, +443% compared to SPEED’s fourth quarter average  in the time period.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from Phoenix scored 602,000 viewers, up 4% from its delivery on SPEED last November (578,000).  Through 10 NCWTS races on FOX Sports 1 average viewership is +11% compared to the 10 races that ran in the same span on SPEED in 2012 (729,000 vs. 657,000).

FOX Sports Live recorded its best weeknight viewership ever for the first and second hours, averaging 161,000 and 85,000 viewers, respectively. Thursday’s show, which followed Oklahoma-Baylor, and Friday’s, following the Phoenix NCWTS race, are the two most-watched weeknight episodes of FOX Sports Live to date with 341,000 and 285,000 viewers respectively.

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As you can see, viewers tuned into Fox Sports Live in larger numbers after watching the football game and race. Fox Sports 1 now hopes the trend continues as it ramps up its coverage of Big East basketball.