More on AEW & NXT Week 151 Viewership – Aug. 30 & 31, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 55 – Aug. 26, 2022

Sep 3, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for August 30th

The August 30th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a slight decline in overall viewership but gained a slight increase in key demographic ratings and a small increase in key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 676,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for NXT’s mixed results this week was due to the large gains from their male key demographic viewership and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were up 27.4% and 20% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large declines from their female key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which were down 21.2% and 5.1% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2022 U.S. Open First Round drew 1,072,000 viewers on ESPN, the MLB game of Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets drew 532,000 on TBS, 7 Little Johnstons drew 827,000 viewers on TLC, Below Deck Down Under drew 649,000 viewers on Bravo, and Deadliest Catch drew 826,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 201,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 149,000 male viewers and 52,000 female viewers for a split of 74.1% in favor of males, which was one of the highest ever for an NXT show in NXT history on USA Network.

NXT’s peak for overall viewership reportedly was at 715,000 viewers for the quarter featuring the Diamond Mine backstage segment, Finn Balor and Bron Breakker backstage segment, and the Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley and post-match segment with Nikki ASH & Doudrop. NXT’s peak for key demographic viewership reportedly was at 209,000 viewers for their overrun with the Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes, & Ricochet promo and brawl segment.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 5.1% in overall viewership and down 7.4% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 33.3% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for August 31

The August 31st episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW suffer a small decline in overall viewership and slight decline in key demographic rankings but gained a slight increase in key demographic ratings.

AEW drew 1,020,000 viewers and a 0.35 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 2nd place.

Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s mixed results this week was due to stiff sports competition, mainly from the U.S. Open tournament that night, and the small decline from their younger female key demographic viewership group, which was down 6% compared to last week. This reportedly offset the large gains from their younger male key demographic viewership, which was up 27.1% compared to last week’s show. Meltzer reported that AEW was hit hard the most from sports related competition during the final three quarter hours of their show since it went directly head-to-head against the Serena Williams vs. Anett Kontaveit match that drew 3,600,000 viewers and peaked as high as around 5,000,000 viewers.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2022 U.S. Open Second Round drew 2,273,000 viewers on ESPN, the MLB simulcast games of Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets and Chicago Cubs vs. Toronto drew 283,000 viewers on MLB Network, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills drew 1,083,000 viewers on Bravo, and Real Housewives of Dubai drew 548,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 460,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 27.1%, Females 18-34 was down 6%, Males 35-49 was down 1%, and Females 35-49 was down 2.1%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was at 65.7% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, five out of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,189,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 896,000 viewers for their eighth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 2.6% in overall viewership and down 5.3% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was up 12.5% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 1,189,000 overall viewers and 498,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley promo segment, Chris Jericho & Daniel Garcia promo segment, and start of the Bryan Danielson vs. Jake Hager match)
2Q – 1,053,000 overall viewers and 451,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of Danielson vs. Hager and post-match brawl with JAS and Blackpool Combat Club)
3Q – 1,032,000 overall viewers and 475,000 key demo viewers (Wingmen promo & brawl with W. Morrissey segment, Stokely Hathaway & Morrissey interview segment, Don Callis & United Empire backstage segment, and the bulk of the Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm & Hikaru Shida match)
4Q – 1,061,000 overall viewers and 483,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Baker & Hayter vs. Storm & Shida match, PAC & Kip Sabian hype video, Miro, Sting, & Darby Allin promo video, and first half of the CM Punk & Ace Steel promo segment)
5Q – 1,070,000 overall viewers and 477,000 key demo viewers (Second half of the Punk & Steel promo segment, Christian & Jungle Boy backstage interview segment, and the FTR & Wardlow vs. Ren Jones, Silas Young, & Vic Capri match)
6Q – 929,000 overall viewers and 452,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley promo segment, Dark Order & Andrade El Idolo backstage segment, and the Rush vs. Wheeler Yuta vs. Fenix vs. Dante Martin match)
7Q – 929,000 overall viewers and 423,000 key demo viewers (first half of the Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. United Empire match)
8Q – 896,000 overall viewers and 420,000 key demo viewers (second half of the Young Bucks & Omega vs. United Empire match)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for August 26th

The August 26th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW suffer a small decline in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a slight decline in key demographic ratings.

AEW Rampage drew 431,000 viewers and a 0.11 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 22nd place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s declines that week was due the large decline from their Teenagers and male key demographic viewership groups, which were down 42.9% and 13.4% respectively compared to the prior week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the large decline from their older key demographic viewership, which was down 12.5% compared to the prior week’s show. Meltzer reported that the main cause for Rampage’s sluggish and declining ratings in recent times is due to serious drops AEW has been suffering from their male key demographic viewership for their Friday shows.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NFL Preseason game of Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys drew 1,203,000 viewers on NFL Network, the MLB simulcast games of Atlanta vs. St. Louis and San Francisco vs. Minnesota drew 176,000 viewers, On Patrol Live drew 795,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 684,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 143,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 84,000 male viewers and 59,000 female viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 58.75% in favor of males, which is believed to be the new lowest ever for an AEW show in AEW history. Meltzer also reported that week’s Rampage show did not rank in the Top 10 youngest skewing English sports show for the week while that week’s Dynamite was the seventh youngest, behind two College football games, two English Premier League games and two MLS games.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 40.3% in overall viewership and down 67.1% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that the main reason for the large declines was due to last year’s show was the week after CM Punk’s official debut in AEW.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 457,000 overall viewers and 149,000 key demo viewers (Dark Order vs. House of Black Trios match and post-match brawl with Miro, Sting, & Darby Allin and the Ryan Nemeth promo segment)
2Q – 432,000 overall viewers and 153,000 key demo viewers (TBS Championship match of Nemeth vs. Wardlow (c), Andrade El Idolo, RUSH, & Private Party backstage segment, Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ashton Day match and the post-match The Factory & Ricky Starks segment, and the Jade Cargill & Athena backstage segment)
3Q – 404,000 overall viewers and 137,000 key demo viewers (Ortiz & Ruby Soho vs. Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo match and the CM Punk injury video segment)
4Q – 431,000 overall viewers and 141,000 key demo viewers (ROH World Championship match of Dustin Rhodes vs. Claudio Castagnoli (c))