The numbers continue to roll in...The Showtime on CBS card featuring the welterweight showdown between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia peaked at 5.1 million viewers last Saturday night. That was enough to make it the highest rated primetime boxing broadcast since 1998, with a 30% increase over Thurman-Porter (which also aired on CBS last year). The peak was hit during the 12th and final round of Thurman-Garcia.
That peak audience was also the second highest overall for boxing on broadcast television since 1998, coming right behind last year’s Errol Spence vs. Leonard Bundu card which aired on NBC. That show didn’t air during primetime though, and immediately followed the men’s gold medal basketball game at the Rio Olympics. The peak audience for that show came right during the opening minutes of that broadcast.
Overall, the average viewership for this Showtime on CBS card averaged 3.1 million, with the main event averaging 3.74 million — representing a 19% increase over the Thurman-Porter fight last year.
Thurman-Garcia was also the number one most talked about event on social media for broadcast television last Saturday, according to Nielsen Social Guide (which takes data from Facebook and Twitter).
So all in all a successful night for boxing, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. You make good fights accessible and people will surely tune-in.