Despite happening one week ago, Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury on television delivered decently solid ratings for Showtime.
The fight, for Wilder's WBC heavyweight title, headlined a Showtime-produced pay-per-view in Los Angeles on December 1 that ultimately ended in a draw. Showtime aired the fight on December 8 and according to Showbuzz Daily, the replay averaged 488,000 viewers. The fight also drew 120,000 viewers 0.29 household rating.
The title fight saw Wilder knock down Fury twice, but neither man was declared the winner, meaning Wilder retained his world title. Although the final buyrate for the pay-per-view has yet to be reported on, early numbers show that the event likely did at least 300,000 buys, which is higher than what PBC had projected. According to reports, PBC and Showtime's break-even number for a buyrate was 250,000.
The fight generated massive social media talk and extensive coverage before and after the bout with the consensus asking for a rematch. Both fighters have stated they wish to have a rematch and the WBC has agreed to sanction a rematch between the two boxers.
This isn't the first time a pay-per-view was replayed the following week on television. After Canelo Alvarez defeated Gennady Golovkin in their middleweight title rematch on September 15, HBO aired the fight a week later. That replay averaged 677,000 viewers and a 0.44 rating, but HBO does have a higher subscriber base than Showtime.
At the moment, there are no live major boxing cards on Showtime scheduled for 2019, but an announcement on what the 2019 schedule will look like is expected to happen in the coming weeks.