ESPN Tripleheader Averaged 584,000 Viewers, Peaked At 673,000
ESPN’s first boxing broadcast of 2021 drew respectable viewership Saturday night, particularly since its main event was postponed two days in advance.
Nielsen Media Research revealed Wednesday that the network’s three-bout broadcast averaged 584,000 viewers. A peak audience of 673,000 tuned in during the opening bout of the two-hour, 27-minute telecast, undefeated heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson’s sixth-round knockout of Kingsley Ibeh.
An average audience of 660,500 watched Anderson (8-0, 8 KOs), of Toledo, Ohio, beat Ibeh (5-2-1, 4 KOs) in their scheduled six-round bout at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Anderson knocked out a battered, bloodied Ibeh with a left hook that left the native Nigerian flat on his back with 45 seconds to go in the final round.
The main event, Richard Commey’s sixth-round knockout of Jackson Marinez, attracted an average audience of 562,500. There was some overlap between Commey-Marinez and DAZN’s stream of its main event – Joseph Diaz Jr.’s 12-round majority draw with Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in an IBF junior lightweight title fight.
Nielsen doesn’t track viewership for streaming services. DAZN doesn’t announce those figures, either.
