AEW vs. NXT Ratings Report: Both shows lose viewers, NXT closes gap with AEW, AEW trounces NXT in key younger demos, both land in top 25
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…
AEW Dynamite on TNT and NXT on USA both dipped to series-low numbers in total viewership last night (10/23) up against the World Series game on Fox between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 12 million viewers.
AEW drew 963,000 viewers for the two hour live show, down from 1.014 million last week. NXT drew 698,000 viewers, down from 712,000 last week.
The gap between the two shows shrunk to the lowest yet, with AEW outdrawing NXT by 265,000. That is down from 302,000 last week, 350,000 in week two, and 518,000 in premiere week.
AEW continues to trounce NXT in key demos. Last it, AEW outdrew NXT in the male 18-34 demo by a 0.52 to 0.12 margin last night. It wasn’t much better in the M18-49 demo, with AEW outdrawing NXT by a 0.62 to 0.23 margin. Among all adults 18-49, AEW drew 0.45 compared to NXT’s 0.21.
The actual cable rating for AEW was 0.62, down from 0.75 the prior week. NXT ticked up to 0.55 indicating those who tuned in at all watched for a longer period of time and brought the average minute-by-minute viewership up even as the total number of different people watching throughout the show was down slightly.
The gap closing between the shows could be due to Finn Balor being added to the mix, or just some people deciding to give AEW a few weeks of their time and now they’ve decided it’s not for them or they’re not hooked. Of course, too much can be made of one week, especially when up against a World Series game. The trend line, though, is down for both shows, with AEW losing more than NXT week over week, but AEW holding strong in the key demos and even going up in the M18-34 demo to the second-highest yet and holding steady in the 18-49 demo the last three weeks.
In the 18-49 demo, AEW finished no. 4 overall on cable (the World Series was on Fox, a broadcast network), behind two ESPN NBA games (which drew demo ratings of 0.8 and 0.7 compared to AEW’s 0.5) and FX’s “American Hour Story” which drew a demo rating of 0.6. NXT snuck back into the top 25 with their 0.2 demo rating.
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