Wednesday night's debut of "UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Hardy," which previews the UFC 111 main event on March 27 between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and British slugger Dan Hardy, was the highest-rated "UFC Countdown" show in history, Spike TV today announced.
The 30-minute show drew 1 million viewers during its initial run at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The debut episode of "UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Penn" was the previous record-holder with an average audience of 880,000 viewers.
Wednesday's episode was the first of a planned three-part series. The next two installments will air in the same Wednesday timeslot on March 17 and March 24.
The viewership totals included solid numbers in two coveted demographics: a 1.1 rating among males ages 18 to 34, as well as a 1.0 figure among males 18 to 49.
The UFC 111 special follows Hardy as he prepares for his bout in his home country of England. The cameras also focus on St-Pierre has he holds his fight camp in Canada and the U.S. Different from the UFC's traditional "Countdown" shows, "UFC Primetime" goes more in depth and focuses on some of the biggest fights of the year.
"UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Hardy" is the fourth installment of the "Primetime" series.
The debut episode re-airs March 12 (11 p.m.), March 19 (11 p.m.), March 26 (11 p.m.) and March 27 (1 p.m.).
