AEW Dynamite Viewership And Key Demo Rating Down From Last Week’s Show

Wednesday’s live edition of AEW Dynamite drew 821,000 viewers on TNT, according to Nielsen via Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.

This AEW viewership is down 12.3% from last week’s show, which drew 936,000 viewers.

This week’s Dynamite drew a 0.28 rating in the 18-49 key demographic. This is down 9.7% from last week’s 0.31 rating in the key demo.

AEW Dynamite Viewership Fell Back Below 1 Million Viewers This Week

AEW viewership dropped this week following last week's highly anticipated Blood & Guts match.

The two-hour broadcast on TNT this week pulled in 936,000 viewers, which is down from 1.090 million last week, according to PWTorch.

The episode scored a 0.66 cable rating, which is also down from 0.72 last week, and delivered a 0.38 demographic rating in the 18-49 category, down from 0.42 the week previous.

AEW Announces Return To Touring, Tony Khan Comments

AEW has announced that they are returning to live touring with upcoming Dynamite tapings on the road.

AEW will run Dynamite on July 7 from the James L. Knight Center in Miami; July 14 from the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas; and July 21 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX.

Tickets for all three Dynamite shows will go on sale this Friday, May 14, and will start at $30. Each event will be held in compliance with COVID-19 protocols.

AEW has also announced two re-scheduled live event dates for St. Louis, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana. The June 23 taping at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis will now take place on Friday, November 5, and will be a TV taping to air on TNT, but apparently not as a Dynamite show. The event scheduled for the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans will now take place on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, and will be a Dynamite taping.

“We’re so appreciative of our fans in Jacksonville who have been with us these past nine months,” said AEW President, CEO, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan. “Their support and incredible energy have lifted us week after week, and viewers have fed off their enthusiasm and support. Daily’s Place will always be our home.

“Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to welcome our fans back to become part of the action in Miami, Austin and Dallas. We’ve missed touring cities, meeting the fans and hearing their roar during our live shows. Please be assured, we are working closely with the venues to comply with state and local regulations in each city. Miami, Austin and Dallas are the first of many as we gear up the trucks to travel around the country again!”

Chris Jericho Refutes Triple H Saying AEW vs. NXT Ratings War Was 'Imaginary'

EW star Chris Jericho fired back at WWE NXT founder Triple H on Tuesday regarding the Wednesday night ratings battle between AEW and NXT.

During a recent appearance on Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg, Triple H referred to the rivalry between AEW and NXT as an "imaginary war" on Wednesday nights:

"The promotional opportunity for us is much better on a Tuesday. And also then not having to have a narrative where it's just constantly about an imaginary war, or this imaginary battle. And, you know, people can say what they want, but the truth of the matter is you compete against everything. If you are creating a television product or content—that is the world we live in is content not television, not internet. It's everything. So you're constantly competing for eyeballs and time against everything under the sun, including sleep and time to do other things, and video games, and TikTok and everything else that's out there."

In an interview with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, Jericho suggested Triple H created the "imaginary war" narrative only because AEW had higher ratings the vast majority of the time:

"It will be there for the rest of time, it was an 'imaginary war,' and if it wasn't a war why did they take Wednesday night the exact same time that we had? It was there to take away our ratings and for us not to get re-signed. Three months after that started we were re-signed to a hundreds-of millions-of-dollars extension. They failed."

After more than a year of AEW and NXT going head-to-head on Wednesday nights, NXT moved to Tuesdays on April 13, marking the end of the Wednesday night wrestling war regardless of whether it was real or imagined.

Jericho added: 

"That's typical WWE. It's typical rhetoric. Because I believe that they congratulated us the first week and said, if you remember, 'It's a marathon, not a sprint.' We won the marathon, right? So now it's an imaginary war. Well then why were they saying it's a marathon, not a sprint a year-and-a-half ago when our first rating came out?"

Triple H Calls NXT vs. AEW An Imaginary War

The competition between NXT and AEW Dynamite, dubbed the "Wednesday Night Wars," officially ended earlier this month when NXT moved to Tuesday. Both shows have benefited since then, with NXT's audience breaking 800,000 for the past two weeks while Dynamite brought in its second-biggest audience in the show's history by surpassing 1.2 million. Triple H was a guest on the Cheap Heat Podcast this week and discussed NXT's move to Tuesday, referring to their ratings battle with All Elite Wrestling as an "imaginary war."

"The promotional opportunity for us is much better on a Tuesday and also then not having to have a narrative where it's just constantly about an imaginary war or this imaginary battle," Triple H said (h/t Wrestling Inc.). "People can say what they want, but the truth of the matter is you compete against everything. If you are creating a television product or content and that is the world we live in is content not television, not internet. It's everything. You're constantly competing for eyeballs and time against everything under the sun, including sleep and time to do other things, and video games, and Tik Tok and everything else that's out there.

"So having your own space where you don't have to then have an added imaginary battle stacked up against it, it's kind of nice. The bigger fact is having a lead in from a Tuesday into a Wednesday. When we first started, NXT was on Wednesday's for viewers of The Network. The transition to USA and wanting to keep that consistency for those that were watching on The Network so they would know where to find it and not have confusion of SmackDown leaving Tuesday's and people joining in and finding something else. Time has gone by now, and this is a great opportunity for us to have that lead in for Monday Night Raw, get that promotional window for Monday Night RAW, get to Tuesday's and continue to deliver the product."

"Again, I'm thrilled with it, and I think the opportunity is the same as it was before, which is for talent to get out there live and show everything that they can do, and I'm a big believer that talent will shine through, and they'll get that opportunity and you'll make bigger and bigger stars as time goes by. It's about making stars and them having that opportunity not just the number every single week."

AEW Dynamite Draws Largest Audience Since Debut

Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite, featuring TNT Champion Darby Allin retaining over Matt Hardy in the main event, drew 1.219 million viewers on TNT, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.

It should be noted that this was the first Dynamite episode to air unopposed after WWE NXT made its move to Tuesday nights. 

This AEW viewership is up 77% from last week’s show, which drew 688,000 viewers.

Triple H Reflects On WWE NXT’s Wednesday Night Run Head-To-Head With AEW

Paul “Triple H” Levesque spoke with the media ahead of NXT “TakeOver: Stand And Deliver”. The first Tuesday after TakeOver will be the first episode of NXT on Tuesday nights full time on USA Network. Triple H was asked how he would rate NXT’s run on Wednesday nights on USA Network.

“Very successful. For me, we went from a very small platform of the [WWE] Network with a lot of buzz outside of it to jumping to USA from one hour to two hours from pre-tape to live to everything in between,” Triple H said. “Talent call-ups, and talent blooming, and injuries and pandemics, you name it. In the course of that period of time, I’m incredibly proud and happy with what we’ve done with the brand, and the the opportunity is right now.

“What we first did, it was about maintenance of a consistent time slot, day of the week and time so that people could find what they were used to finding, even in that smaller group. Now we’ve established a consistent viewership. The viewership over the the period of time, I think it’s 850,000 a week. Obviously, we just renewed a multi-year deal. The network is very happy. The ability to jump to Peacock and have more visibility for our larger tentpole events, our TakeOver’s, and be able to create more interest in the product in that manner, it’s all for the right reasons.

“The Tuesday lead in from Monday night at a promotion from Monday night to Tuesday is going to be great for us. It’s all good, and to be honest, if you would have asked me a year and a half or whatever it was, ‘Hey, how would you see this going?’ I would see it going about what it is now. The ability to establish a fan base and then decide the best place to put it but establishing that fan base in the consistent time slot was where it was at.

Triple H also addressed if there will be any significant changes to NXT with their move to Tuesday nights. He used the HBO show Game of Thrones to illustrate NXT’s approach in how they produce shows.

“As far as further changes, you make them every week. It’s constantly looking at what you do to try to fans the best possible shows,” Triple H explained. “Not just in that moment because that is — a funny thing, they don’t write Game of Thrones and go, ‘How do you give them the greatest episode possible every single week?’ You have to build to things. You have to build long term. You have to think long term. It’s going to ebb and flow in what the episodes themselves look like. It’s all about long term. It really is, and it’s hard for people to garner, but we’re on the exact path I would like to be on.”

AEW Dynamite Viewership Drops Again, NXT Sees Demo Increase

The  numbers are in for this week's Wednesday Night War.

This week is high for NXT and low for Dynamite, just as the Wednesday Night War is one week from its final head-to-head week of competition.

AEW Dynamite won the night with 700,000 viewers and finished 7th on cable, although it was down from last week’s 757,000.

NXT viewership also decreased this week, but ratings in the key demo increased. NXT averaged 654,000 viewers, which is slightly down from last week’s audience of 678,000 viewers.

Dynamite scored a .26 rating in people 18-49 demographic (from a .30 last week) while NXT scored a .21 rating in the 18-49 demo to rank at No. 12 for the night. NXT previously scored .14 in the 18-49 demo and was No. 29 last week.

Source: showbuzzdaily.com

Freddie Prinze Jr. Praises Triple H And Cody Rhodes In Helping ‘Normalize’ Wrestling For TV Execs

Freddie Prinze Jr. has had his fair share experience in the WWE writing room, but is a lifelong fan of the wrestling business in general. In addition to that, the actor also knows how the film and television business operates and knows how much that industry isn’t leaning in the favor of pro wrestling. Prinze took to Twitter yesterday to give his insight on how tough it is to crack that primetime television egg.

“If you knew how bad most tv execs did not want professional wrestling on their channels you’d respect the hell out of WWE, NXT, & AEW for pulling off what they do each week,” He started. “They literally have every card in the deck stacked against them and they’re still growing the business.”

Prinze followed up with another Tweet praising figureheads like Cody Rhodes and Triple H for bridging that gap between the canvas and the board room.

“This is why cats like HHH doing interviews and Cody being on other TNT programming is so important. They help normalize the business because they just get it. They come off chill and solid. Hope they both continue to stay out in the public eye. It’s more important now than ever.”

WWE NXT Draws Best Viewership Of The Year, AEW Dynamite Also Up This Week

Week 72 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite defeat WWE NXT in viewership and ratings.

Wednesday’s live edition of Dynamite drew 831,000 viewers (+11% from last week) on TNT, topping the 734,000 viewers (+3%) garnered by the live NXT show on the USA Network by 13%, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.

AEW ranked #5 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #24. AEW ranked #60 in viewership, while NXT ranked #66 in viewership.

Last week’s Dynamite show drew 747,000 viewers and ranked #4 on the Cable Top 150, and #69 in viewership. Last week’s NXT show drew 713,000 viewers and ranked #39 on the Cable Top 150, and #70 in viewership.

AEW drew a 0.35 rating in the 18-49 demographic (+13%) while NXT drew a 0.18 in the same demo (+13%) this week. Last week’s AEW show drew a 0.31 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.16 in that demographic.

NXT drew their best audience of the year this week, and their best key demo rating of 2021. This week’s NXT viewership was up 2.95% from last week, while the key demo rating was up 2%. NXT viewership for this week was down 7.56% from the same week in 2020, and the key demo rating was down 7% from the same week last year.

Tony Khan Comments On New AEW Monday Night Show

AEW officially announced their third show today – AEW Dark: Elevation.

AEW President & CEO Tony Khan noted on Twitter that Elevation will begin streaming on YouTube soon, but no date has been confirmed as of this writing. The show will air every Monday night at 7pm ET on the official AEW YouTube channel.

As noted earlier, AEW announced that veteran pro wrestler Paul Wight (fka Big Show in WWE) has signed with the company. He has signed a long-term deal to be a commentator on Elevation, and will also be wrestling at some point. Khan commented on Elevation and welcomed Wight to the company in a tweet.

“Welcome to @AEW, @PaulWight! Watch #AEWDynamite tonight for more info on Paul’s arrival here, and for more info on our new show AEW Dark: Elevation! It will be streaming soon every Monday night on AEW YouTube!,” he wrote.

Elevation will compliment the main AEW Dark series that airs every Tuesday night at 7pm ET on the AEW YouTube channel. Elevation will showcase AEW’s established and rising wrestlers, and top indie wrestlers from around the industry.

AEW also noted that Elevation will maintain continuity with Dynamite, Dark, pay-per-view shows and other streaming events, with wins and losses factoring into each wrestler’s ranking in the company.

AEW will be revealing more details on Elevation and Wight’s signing during tonight’s Dynamite.

Big Show Leaves WWE And Joins AEW

AEW announced today that Paul Wight has joined the company, signing a long-term contract.

Wight will wrestle and serve as a commentator for AEW’s newest show on YouTube, AEW Dark: Elevation. Elevation will air on Mondays at 7pm ET, complimenting the weekly AEW Dark show that airs on Tuesdays at 7pm ET. Elevation will showcase AEW’s established and rising talent, as well as top indie talents.

Wight said it’s been amazing to watch what AEW has done in a few years since launching.

“It’s been amazing to watch what AEW has built in just a couple of years,” Wight said in a press release. “AEW Dark is an incredible platform to hone the skills of up-and-coming wrestlers, but I also love that established AEW talent can build out their personalities and showcase themselves in new ways on Dark. It’s no exaggeration when they say that AEW is boundless.”

AEW CEO, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan also commented on why Wight wanted to come to AEW.

“Paul Wight is one of the most recognizable and impressive professional athletes in the world,” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “He wanted to come to AEW because he believes that we’re the best promotion in wrestling, and we believe that he has a lot to offer us, both in the ring as a wrestler, and also outside the ring as a commentator, host and ambassador for AEW.”

“Paul is one of the most experienced stars in all of wrestling, and he’s eager to work with our diverse roster,” added Khan. “He can benefit and guide our young talent with his mentorship, and his expert commentary on AEW Dark: Elevation will educate and entertain our fans, and also educate the younger wrestlers on the roster. Furthermore, Paul enters AEW as a licensed wrestler, and he’s very much looking forward to studying our talent firsthand from the commentary desk in preparation for his return to the ring!”

AEW is promising more details on Wight’s signing during tonight’s Dynamite show on TNT.

NXT Sees Sizable Viewership Increase, Still Behind AEW Dynamite

NXT saw a major increase, but AEW Dynamite still won in terms of ratings and viewership.

AEW Dynamite drew 747,000 viewers overall, which is slightly up from last week’s 741,000. The show also drew a .31 rating in people 18-49 (up from a .29 last week).

Per PW Torch, NXT viewership was up to 713,000 viewers (from 558,000) and came in with a .16 rating in the 18-49 demographic. NXT previously had a .12 in the 18-49 demographic.

NXT YEAR-TO-DATE RANKINGS

Jan. 6 – 659,000 – 2021 HighJan. 14 – 551,000 – 2021 LowFeb. 17 – 713,000 – This Week

AEW DYNAMITE YEAR-TO-DATE RANKINGS

Jan. 20 – 854,000 – 2021 HighJan. 6 – 662,000 – 2021 LowFeb. 17 – 747,000 – This Week

Brodie Lee Passes Away

WWE has released the following statement about Lee's passing: WWE is saddened to learn that Jon Huber, known to WWE fans as Luke Harper, passed away today at age 41. Known as both Luke Harper and Brodie Lee in the ring, Huber found success in every stop of his sports-entertainment career, as his soft spoken yet imposing presence helped him create countless awe-inspiring moments in the ring. After a highly decorated run on the independent circuit, Harper debuted in NXT as a menacing enforcer for The Wyatt Family. Harper had a dominant tag team run with Rowan that would lay the groundwork for future championship success. As a member of The Wyatt Family, he engaged in heated rivalries with the likes of Kane, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, John Cena and The Usos. After being set free from the family, Harper authored an impressive singles run that culminated with him defeating Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. Harper & Rowan later comprised The Bludgeon Brothers and embarked on a path of destruction that was highlighted by a SmackDown Tag Team Title victory in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 34.

AEW Dynamite Sees Big Drop In Viewership From Last Week, WWE NXT Viewership Rises

Week 62 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite defeat WWE NXT in viewership and ratings. Wednesday's live episode of Dynamite drew 806,000 viewers on TNT, topping the 766,000 garnered by last night's live NXT on the USA Network by 5.2%, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily. AEW ranked #3 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #34. AEW tied for #62 in viewership, with CNN's New Day at 7am, while NXT ranked #67 in viewership. Last week's Dynamite show drew 995,000 viewers and ranked #2 in the Cable Top 150, and #55 in viewership. Last week's post-WarGames edition of NXT drew 659,000 viewers and ranked #37 in the Cable Top 150, and #75 in viewership. AEW drew a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demographic, beating the 0.19 scored by NXT in the same demo this week by 68%. Last week's AEW show drew a 0.45 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.17 in that demographic. This week's AEW show was down 19% in total viewers from last week, but on the higher end of what the show was doing before the past two loaded episodes aired. AEW was down 29% in the 18-49 demographic rating this week, but again, it was on the higher end of what Dynamite was drawing before the past two loaded shows aired. This week's AEW show was up 18% from the same week in 2019, but that same week last year, the December 18 show, was their worst number of 2019 - 683,000 viewers with a 0.25 rating in the key demo. This week's NXT show drew the best number of total viewers since Halloween Havoc, which drew 876,000 viewers on October 28. NXT's 18-49 demographic rating for this week was the second-best since Halloween Havoc, behind the November 25 show that drew a 0.20 rating. This week's NXT was down 3.7% from the same week in 2019. The Challenge on MTV at 8pm topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150, with a 0.45 rating, but drawing just 839,000 viewers. Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC topped the night on cable in viewership with 3.593 million viewers, ranking #11 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.26 rating in the key 18-49 demo.

WWE NXT Tops AEW Dynamite On Night Before Thanksgiving

Week 59 of the Wednesday Night War saw WWE NXT defeat AEW Dynamite in viewership, but not the ratings in the key demographic. The numbers are just now being released due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Wednesday's NXT averaged 712,000 viewers on the USA Network, edging out the 710,000 viewers garnered by AEW Dynamite by just 0.3%, according to Showbuzz Daily. AEW ranked #7 in the Cable Top 150 for the 18-49 demo, while NXT ranked #25. AEW ranked #64 in total viewership, while NXT ranked #63 in viewership. Last week's Dynamite show drew 850,000 viewers (-16% from last week) and ranked #7 in the Cable Top 150, and #60 in viewership. Last week's NXT episode drew 638,000 viewers (+11.6%) and ranked #56 in the Cable Top 150, and #74 in viewership. AEW drew a 0.26 rating in the 18-49 demographic (-30%) while NXT drew a 0.20 (+43%) in the same demo this week. Last week's AEW show drew a 0.37 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.14 in that demographic. This was the second-best NXT viewership and 18-49 demographic rating since October, besides the Halloween Havoc special, which drew 876,000 viewers and a 0.25 rating in the key demo. NXT viewership was down 12% from the 2019 Thanksgiving Week episode.

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Won Viewership Over AEW Dynamite This Week

The numbers are in for this week's Wednesday Night action-packed night of pro-wrestling from WWE and AEW.

AEW Dynamite drew 781,000 viewers, which is up on last week's 753,000 viewers. WWE NXT's Halloween Havoc drew 876,000 viewers, which is up on the 644,000 viewers the week previous, according to Showbuzz Daily.

This is the first time since July 8th that NXT had a higher viewership than Dynamite.

In terms of demos, AEW Dynamite took the win with with the 18-49 demographic drawing a 0.32 rating, 12th best among original cable, up on NXT's 0.25 rating in that same demo, which sat at 21st best on cable.

In the 18-49 demographic, AEW Dynamite won again with a 0.32 rating, 12th best among original cable, and up on NXT's 0.25 rating which was 21st best on cable.

source: showbuzz daily

AEW Dynamite And WWE NXT Both Drop In Viewership This Week

The viewership numbers are in for Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT.

Dynamite drew 753,000 viewers on TNT, while NXT drew 644,000 viewers on the USA Network, according to Showbuzz Daily.

Last week’s Dynamite drew 826,000 viewers, while NXT drew 651,000.

AEW Draws Over 1 Million Viewers With PPV Fallout

While the two shows did not go head-to-head once again this week, Week 48 of the Wednesday Night War went to AEW Dynamite over WWE NXT.

The numbers have just been released for last night's post-All Out edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT. Dynamite aired on its normal timeslot this week but NXT aired on Tuesday due to the NHL Playoffs on the USA Network.

Wednesday's Dynamite episode drew 1.016 million viewers (+9.5% from last week) on TNT, topping the 838,000 viewers garnered by Tuesday's NXT Super Tuesday II by 21%, according to Showbuzz Daily.

AEW ranked #7 in the Cable Top 150 for the 18-49 demo and #55 in viewership.

Last week's Dynamite episode drew 928,000 viewers and ranked #8 in the Cable Top 150, and #61 in viewership.

This is the best AEW viewership of 2020 and the third-best viewership of all-time. Their TNT premiere on October 2 drew 1.409 million viewers while the October 9 episode drew 1.018 million viewers. Their third episode drew 1.014 million viewers, but this is the first time the show has hit 1 million viewers since then.

WWE NXT Super Tuesday Episode Draws Strong Numbers With No Competition From AEW Dynamite

For the third week in a row, WWE NXT aired with no head-to-head competition from AEW Dynamite last night. This was the first of two NXT Super Tuesday episodes due to the NHL playoffs airing on the USA Network.

NXT drew 849,000 viewers on the USA Network last night, according to Showbuzz Daily. This is up 3% from last week's 824,000 viewers.

This is the third-best NXT viewership of 2020, and the eighth-best of all-time.

NXT drew a 0.26 rating in the 18-49 demographic this week. Last week's show drew a 0.24 in the same demo.

The 0.26 rating in the key demo is the best of 2020, and the best since the December 18 episode, which drew a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

This week's show ranked #60 in viewership and #10 on the Cable Top 150. Last week's show ranked #24 on the Cable Top 150 and #83 in viewership.

This is a rare top 10 finish for NXT on the Cable Top 150.