AEW and NXT fall in viewership and among the 18-49 demo

Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/13/aew-and-nxt-fall-in-viewership-and-among-the-18-49-demo/

After one of its best weeks of the year, AEW Dynamite fell this week going against several competitors including an NBA basketball game.

Both AEW and NXT fell in total viewership with Dynamite down 12% averaging 792,000 viewers while NXT averaged 619,000 and declined by 18%.

In the 18-49 demo, AEW dropped 11% with a 0.32 rating and was ninth for the night among cable programs. AEW doubled NXT in the demo, who posted a 0.16 and finished 65th among cable programs. Due to its placement outside the top fifth programs, we don’t have a breakdown of the key demos for NXT.

The most-watched program among 18-49s was an episode of Big Brother on CBS that registered a 1.1 in the demo.

There were two NBA games on ESPN. The Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers did 674,000 viewers (0.26 in the demo), which ended just after 9 pm Eastern. The next game between Denver and the L.A. Clippers did 1,204,000 viewers (0.48, second place on cable) beginning at 9:19 pm Eastern against both shows.

The top cable program was Real Housewives of Beverly Hills at 1,576,000 viewers and a 0.51 in the demo.

After such a huge week with adults 18-34 last week, AEW fell by 38% in that category with a 0.18 compared to last week’s 0.29 (which topped this week’s Raw that did a 0.22). While it is a big fall in 18-34s, this week’s rating is in line with what the show had been doing prior to last week’s surge, and this week they returned to earth. For the month of July, AEW averaged a 0.17 among adults 18-34.

AEW was also hurt badly among males 12-34 which fell by 39% and females 12-34 dropping by 28.5%.

There were no increases among the key demos but females 18-49 and adults 25-54 stayed even.

Next week is a big test for AEW with Dynamite airing on Saturday night instead of Wednesday. On one hand, it’s a different night of the week and Saturday is tougher than Wednesday, but the silver lining is that Dynamite will have the NBA as a lead-in and that’s as strong as it gets on TNT.

NXT will go unopposed on television next Wednesday with its go-home show for TakeOver: XXX.

Here is a breakdown of the key demos for AEW:

ADULTS 18-49
AEW: 0.32 (-11%)
NXT: 0.16 (-20%)

FEMALES 18-49
AEW: 0.26 (Even)

MALES 18-49
AEW: 0.38 (-15.5%)

ADULTS 18-34
AEW: 0.18 (-38%)

FEMALES 12-34
AEW: 0.15 (-28.5%)

MALES 12-34
AEW: 0.17 (-39%)

ADULTS 25-54
AEW: 0.39 (Even)

ADULTS 50+
AEW: 0.26 (-21%)

Woof, brutal numbers for NXT. It’ll be interesting to see how they do next week unopposed

NXT will be unopposed by wrestling but up against NBA Playoffs. AEW will be on a different day/time and opposed by NBA Playoffs and an NXT Takeover. I don’t think any number - good, bad or indifferent - would surprise me, and I have no idea if those ratings will even mean anything.

Yeah sports is going to take a big bite out of both shows. I just don’t feel like there is any buzz for this Takeover so I’m not sure that will be a difference maker.

Big Brother is the juggernaut, brother.

Look at the Big Brother demo numbers and you really get why WWE got away with so much tacky, soap opera shit at their peak in the early 2000s. Yeah, the wrestling was really good, but the “crap” wasn’t driving adults away when it was adult-oriented crap, as opposed to what it seems to be doing in the cartoon-ish PG era.

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It is summer so maybe people actually went outside and it brought down the ratings of both shows. Or maybe they already watched enough tv for the day. There was a UEFA Chempions League game earlier on in the day so maybe people were burned out by too much tv.

Bra & Panties matches will win this war for whichever show is the most obsessed with the ratings. And that’s not even a joke. An easy win in the key demo.

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I’m not sure if the Champions League is that big in the US…

Now I’m imagining a world where football fans discuss what rating every match did on TV. That would be hell.

Im sure that it is not big at all. I guess my point was that there are more sports on tv besides just North American sports. Also that alot of factors can come into play regarding ratings.

I would be curious to know what the Wednesday ratings are in Canada for AEW. Or how much sports competition in Canada takes away from AEWs ratings.

Bra and panties matches would get too much criticism these days. People already complain about girls dancing on raw.

I dont miss those akward attitude era moments where family would walk into the room at the worst time. Nothing worse than the stinkface.

At least in sports, the people in charge of the game itself (coaches, players, etc.) can just ignore the financials and try to put the best product out on the field. Wrestling would be great if the wrestlers and bookers were in the same boat.

I tried to be “out” on talking about or looking at wrestling ratings, because it’s mostly just fans cherry-picking the data points that support their preferred outcome. But the fact is, if you want to understand booking or why things are happening in WWE or AEW, you have to accept that the ratings are a driving factor. Sad but true for those of us who would rather stick to complaining about the on-screen product.

Ratings are important to everyone. Last week Tucker Carlson went on some spiel about how his ratings are higher than the NBA.

Mark Cuban replied and pointed out that most of Carlsons viewers are 50 or 70 plus. The NBA destroys Carlson in the only thing that matters - the key demo.

So yeah it’s not just some weird wrestling thing.

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With scripted shows, they will change anything if ratings dip. They’ll change writers, timeslots, characters, add children, whatever; in response to ratings. This is where the comparison to sports falls flat.

TV executives, wrestling fans, Donald Trump, Mark Cuban and Tucker Carlson. What a party. The new swamp.

They need to change the head coach, not the masseurs.

Woah! Do NOT change the masseurs! Do you know how hard it is to find a good one? Let’s not get crazy

Just realized that NXT is going up against the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Throw the ratings completely out the window this week. Though at least Barack Obama and Kamala Harris aren’t scheduled until after 10 PM.

I really don’t see much crossover between NXT fans and politically obsessed viewers.

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5.77 million just on the big three networks. Plus whoever watched on cable or whatever streaming channel. Some of them must be wrestling fans, especially in the over-50 demo.

hockey takes away big from wrestling.
if raptors are scheduled wrestling losses big in key demo
even a jays game does pretty decent

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