— The debut episode of WWE NXT on SyFy drew a 1.35 (1.4) cable rating and averaged 1,704,000 viewers. WWE and SyFy sent this out today: REMIERE OF WWE NXT PINS 1.7 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS DURING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 DEBUT ON SYFY, SOARING 32% NXT Leaps 73% in Adults 18-34, 51% in Adults 18-49 and 35% in Adults 25-54 New York, NY — February 24, 2010 — The premiere of Syfy’s WWE NXT, a new hybrid live event/reality show featuring eight popular WWE Superstars (“Pros”) mentoring eight WWE “Rookies,” pinned 1.7 million total viewers during its Tuesday, February 23 debut, leaping 32% compared to the 1Q10 to-date delivery for the Tuesday 10PM (ET/PT) programming. During the 10-11PM (ET/PT) telecast, NXT jumped 73% in Adults 18-34 (430,000), 51% in Adults 18-49 (787,000) and 35% in Adults 25-54 (767,000), along with a 1.3 household rating. This is the best HH rating and Adults18-49 delivery for a WWE series telecast on Syfy since 9/1/09. The median age for WWE NXT was 35.2, nearly eight years below the 42.9 average for the Tuesday 10PM programming in 1Q10. In WWE NXT’s 10PM time period, Syfy was the #2 cable network for Men 18-49 and Men 25-54, and was in the top 5 cable entertainment networks in Adults 25-54 (#3), Men 18-34 (#4) and Adults 18-49 (#5). NXT is a unique combination of heart-stopping entertainment and gritty behind-the-scenes reality. The Rookie stars of the series take the challenge of the Syfy tagline Imagine Greater’ to heart as they embark on their ultimate dream quest to join the next generation of WWE revered heroes and champions.
— USA Network again won the ratings war last week, holding down a 2.1 cable prime time average. That’s well ahead of TNT at 1.5 in second. Syfy came in at 16 with 0.8 and Spike was 21 at 0.7. The 2 hours of Raw ranked at 5 and 8 for the week, behind two hours of Olympic coverage on MSNBC, NCIS and Keeping Up With the Kardashians all ahead of hour 2, which was the higher of Raw’s 2 hours. Neither hour was in the top ten in the 18-34 demographic, but hour 2 came in at 5 and hour 1 was at 7 in the 18-49 demographic.
— Daniel Bryan’s debut last night on WWE NXT was a big hit among New York area wrestling fans as it was one of the top ten trending topics among New York City Twitter users after the show went off the air.
— The following has been added to the WWE Classics OnDemand service:
The Big Ones
* Hell in Cell 2009
TV Classics
* NWA’s WCW on TBS 4/4/87
* World Class Championship Wrestling 9/10/83
* WWF All Star Wrestling 3/28/84
Which WWE star was sent home from the SD! tapings last night?, details inside!