The comeback fight of former world champion David Haye broke broadcasting records for UKTV channel Dave on January 16th, with a peak of 3 million viewers tuning in to watch his bout with Australian Mark De Mori.

Dave, broadcasting a live sports event for the very first time, peaked a total of 3.02 million viewers for the fight – 14 per cent of the UK TV audience – making it the top non-public broadcast service programme of the day. During the fight, Dave experienced a higher share of the UK audience than Channel 4 and was only 1 per cent behind ITV. In addition, 100,000 viewers streamed the fight live on YouTube around the world.

In a first for boxing, the bout was broadcast live in 360°-video, via a multi-camera video production streamed on the Hayemaker 360 app. Highlights of the broadcast are available on the Hayemaker 360 app.

Haye’s comeback was a also huge success on social media, with #HayeDay trending on Facebook and Twitter throughout the evening and a Snapchat Live Story chronicled events from the fans perspective inside The O2 Arena.

“When we set out on this journey, the aim was to bring boxing back to as many people as possible and we have certainly done that,” declared Haye. “We have worked relentlessly for the past seven weeks to put together an amazing event and I’m humbled that over three million people tuned in and 16,000 came down to The O2 to see me in action.”

Haye joined forces with entertainment, media and marketing company Salter Brothers Entertainment to promote the fight. They collectively devised ‘Haye Day’ with the goal of bringing the love and excitement of big-time boxing to a wider audience.

Co-promoters, Salter Brothers Entertainment, said: “We have worked tirelessly to make Haye Day a success and the numbers in attendance and watching around the world prove that. We wanted to bring boxing into the digital age and make Haye Day stand-out as a landmark event in the boxing world. We partnered with some of the biggest social media outlets in the world including YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat. These partnerships were a huge success and resulted in Haye Day resonating with the public across broadcast, social and digital channels.”