AEW dominates ratings, highest viewership since March

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Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/07/23/aew-dominates-ratings-highest-viewership-since-march/

“Momentum equals mass times velocity” – Bayley

AEW Dynamite appears to have a dominant command of Wednesday’s viewership after hitting its rock bottom point on June 24th with its lowest average.

AEW dominated NXT for the second straight week in viewers while also topping a 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the first time since May.

AEW finished with 845,000 viewers on Wednesday night, up 7.2% from the prior week and their highest viewership since March 18th, which was the first week without fans. Dynamite was fifth for the night on cable finishing with a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which was an increase of 10% from Fight for the Fallen.

NXT countered with 615,000 viewers and a 0.17 in the demographic. While they dropped 2.5% in viewership, they were up 21% in the demo after last week’s 0.14. It was NXT’s lowest viewership since May 20th.

AEW increased in all but one of the key demographics led by a 40% jump among females 12-34 and adults 18-34 improving by 12.5%. The lone loss was with males 12-34 that fell by 5%.

NXT was all over the place with their audiences dropping last week, so they experienced several rebounds. The largest was with males 12-34 which hit 0.02 last week and were up to a 0.08 rating this week that translates to a 300% improvement. Males 18-49 were up 64% and adults 18-34 were up by 60%. The big losses were seen with females 12-34 that fell by 55.5% and females 18-49 decreasing by 28.5%.

AEW dominated the demographics with NXT edging them out with adults over 50 but not by a large margin. NXT posted a 0.33 rating in that demo to AEW’s 0.31.

Below is a breakdown of the key demographics:

ADULTS 18-49
AEW: 0.32 (+10%)
NXT: 0.17 (+21%)

FEMALES 18-49
AEW: 0.20 (+11%)
NXT: 0.10 (-28.5%)

MALES 18-49
AEW: 0.44 (+10%)
NXT: 0.23 (+64%)

ADULTS 18-34
AEW: 0.18 (+12.5%)
NXT: 0.08 (+60%)

FEMALES 12-34
AEW: 0.14 (+40%)
NXT: 0.04 (-55.5%)

MALES 12-34
AEW: 0.19 (-5%)
NXT: 0.08 (+300%)

ADULTS 25-54
AEW: 0.38 (+8.5%)
NXT: 0.20 (+5%)

ADULTS 50+
AEW: 0.31 (+3%)
NXT: 0.33 (-8%)

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Aew catching up in the 50+ thanks to Matt Jackson and his gardening tips

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So NXT is up big time in the demo, but down in total viewers. Is this a good thing for them? Or a bad thing for them?

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They are up in the demo because they cratered last week. The previous weeks were 0.19, 0.22, 0.20.

By NXT’s standards during the empty arena shows, a 0.17 isn’t terrible and isn’t great.

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Hope this shortens Keith Lee’s reign as champion.

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I am happy to see AEW doing better. I never liked the idea of NXT moving to the exact same timeslot as AEW.

Now that AEW was on TV they actually put some effort into the weekly NXT shows. That is something that they should have always done. This proves that competition is good.

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Interesting I think the NXT weekly TV was more compelling before. They have hot shotted way too many programs chasing ratings and needing to fill 2 hours.

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I think that 1 hour was enough. It helped to make Take Overs feel more special. I also wish that they sticked to Tuesdays.

Why did they wait for AEW to debut to get on tv? All of a sudden NXT was able to get on tv? I guess they were too complacent like the WWE in general to try and get on the USA network.

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Does this mean Cody and his mystery challenger of the week are the real Demo-Gods? That’s what I watched first.

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Could be just me, but NXT seems like a pretty bland and generic product. In-ring is good, but my understanding is it’s really cooled off (even prior to covid). It’s the best of WWE’s offerings, but I mean…AEW is presented as more “big-time” and NXT doesn’t do great at character work these days. No Full Sail crowd is also really doing them in. At least compared to prior. I hope Keith Lee changes things and makes the show feel hotter, he seems like an awesome and authentic dude. Cole felt stale for months.

Anyway, it feels sort of obvious AEW is the hotter product. Makes sense to me why viewership isn’t far more dominant.

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TBH, I didn’t expect AEW to have that larger number, but good for them.

I wonder if NXT will hot shot a Lee VS Cole rematch and I’m pretty sure that Bayley and Sasha will probably make an appearance very soon as well.

In a way, I’m supprised that NXT aren’t considering doing a show in one of those states that has been allowing fans in.

Also how long can Florida continue what they are allowing, it seems to be getting worse everyday, might be an idea to shoot a lot of content in case they decide to lockdown.

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NXT has always been on Wednesday.

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I mean up until then USA already had 2 WWE shows. And NXT was always on Wednesday.

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NXT going two hours on Wednesday was always designed to fuck with AEW. Just like how they all of a sudden booked Great American Bash when AEW ran Fyter Fest.

Problem is NXT has always been reactionary to what AEW is doing and it’s hurt them big time. Also you take away all the advantages that HHH had for years and you’re left with a guy who just doesn’t seem to be all that creative.

It’s easy to scoop up all the top Indy talent and let them keep their names. He’s been getting stomped by AEW for most Wednesday’s.

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A WWE main roster style show works better for ratings. It’s what people are used to and it’s what AEW provide. NXT isn’t designed to be mainstream, it’s not even seen as one of the main shows. It’s there for wrestling fans that want something more serious. It being 2 hours isn’t an issue at all. Them “running through matches” is also nonsense. AEW build up heels for a month and then they have them bend over straight away but obviously we can’t mention that. NXT have a lot of matches they can get to.

The worse thing WWE could do is to start caring about this “war” too much as they’ll just change NXT into being more like what people are used to. It’d probably do better in the ratings but it’ll be a kick in the dick for people that want a legitimate alternative to mainstream wrestling as mainstream wrestling right now (WWE main roster and AEW) is quite shit.

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It’s nice to see AEW and NXT both flourishing on Wednesday night. Its good for both companies, its good for the talent, and its good for the fans. Sure you have your marks on both sides who are blindly loyal to one brand or another, but I do feel both are good shows for the most part that have their strengths and weaknesses.

AEW has a stronger tag division, NXT has a better womens division. NXT has a better main event scene, AEW has a better midcard.

I just hope the ratings for both shows keep rising and rising.

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This would be my biggest complaint about AEW, I have had zero interest in the main event scene for months now. I said this in another thread, but they seem more interested in proving that WWE mid-carders can be in the main event to the determent of their own show.

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NXT isn’t exactly flourishing with their second lowest number since May.

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NXT hasn’t even built up its title challengers though that is the problem. It used to take them a while to get to programs and build guys up. Before they went to TV no way they just throw Riddle vs Cole on a show with no build at all. Same with Lee vs Cole. AEW at least has better interaction between the competitors even if they are rushing guys into title shots. Further just because AEW does something wrong doesn’t make it ok for WWE to do the same or worse. The 2 hours is also a problem as is the rating chase. Before going live you would have weeks were some guys don’t show up, now every top act is on almost every week and it gets old.

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Serious stuff like Dexter Lumis and Robert Stone. Super serious

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