More on AEW & NXT Week 155 Viewership – Sept. 27 & 28, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 59 – Sept. 23, 2022

Oct 1, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for September 27th

The September 27th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a small decline in overall viewership and key demographic rankings but gained a slight increase in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 660,000 viewers and a 0.16 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 14th 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 stiff competition from news-related coverage of Hurricane Ian and the large declines suffered from their female key demographic viewership and Over 50 demographic viewership groups, which were down 8.3% and 15% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large gains from their male key demographic viewership and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were up 10.6% and 25% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, Hurricane Ian news coverage drew 1,170,000 viewers on Weather Channel, the MLB game of New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays drew 787,000 viewers on TBS, the soccer game of Mexico vs. Colombia drew 481,000 viewers on TUDN, 7 Little Johnstons drew 791,000 viewers on TLC, Below Deck Down Under drew 537,000 viewers on Bravo, and Deadliest Catch drew 724,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 202,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 136,000 male viewers and 66,000 female viewers for a split of 67.3% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 0.8% in overall viewership and up 9.2% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 66.7% compared to the same show last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for September 28th

The September 28th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW suffer a small decline in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a slight decline in key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for Hurricane Ian causing travel-related issues for a sizable amount of AEW’s roster.

AEW drew 900,000 viewers and a 0.34 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 9th place.

Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s declines this week was due to very stiff competition from news-related coverage of Hurricane Ian, which took eight of the Top 10 ranked shows for that night. Meltzer reported that when taking away Hurricane Ian-related shows, AEW would have been ranked first for the night due to their first hour had ranked first for the 8-9PM hour and ranked second for the 9-10PM hour, only behind one news show. Another reason for the decline reportedly was due to the large declines from their Teenagers, younger female key demographic viewership, and Over 50 demographic viewership groups, which were down 16.7%, 33%, and 10.9% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large gains from their older key demographic viewership group, which was up 7.8% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, Storm Center drew 2,026,000 viewers on Weather Channel, Weather Channel Live drew 1,879,000 viewers on Weather Channel, the MLB simulcast games of New York Yankees vs. Toronto and Atlanta vs. Washington drew 580,000 viewers on MLB Network, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills drew 1,128,000 viewers on Bravo, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 685,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 443,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 4.6%, Females 18-34 was down 33%, Males 35-49 was up 6.5%, and Females 35-49 was up 11%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was at 67.9% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, three of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,208,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 875,000 viewers for their seventh quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 14.1% in overall viewership and down 24.7% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 1,208,000 overall viewers and 559,000 key demo viewers (Jericho Appreciation Society & Bryan Danielson promo segment)
2Q – 1,016,000 overall viewers and 478,000 key demo viewers (Danielson vs. Matt Menard match and the Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson video package)
3Q – 962,000 overall viewers and 445,000 key demo viewers (MJF & Wheeler Yuta promo segment, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, & Satnam Singh backstage promo segment, and the Darby Allin video promo segment)
4Q – 1,013,000 overall viewers and 459,000 key demo viewers (Moxley vs. Robinson match and post-match angle with Hangman Adam Page)
5Q – 997,000 overall viewers and 447,000 key demo viewers (MJF & Yuta brawl segment, Bandido video package, and the Saraya & Britt Baker promo segment)
6Q – 975,000 overall viewers and 409,000 key demo viewers (AEW Interim Women’s Championship Lumberjack match of Serena Deeb vs. Toni Storm (c) and The Acclaimed, Billy Gunn, & Keith Lee backstage interview segment)
7Q – 875,000 overall viewers and 377,000 key demo viewers (AFO, Private Party, & Matt Hardy backstage segment and the Ricky Starks vs. Eli Isom match)
8Q – 879,000 overall viewers and 371,000 key demo viewers (ROH World Championship match of Bandido vs. Chris Jericho (c))

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for September 23rd

The September 23rd episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a large increase in overall viewership and a small increase in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings. That week’s show was notable for being the Rampage Grand Slam 2022 special.

AEW Rampage drew 522,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 4th and 8th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s increases that week was due to the very large gains from their Teenagers and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were up 133.3% and 175% respectively compared to the prior week’s show. Meltzer reported that AEW’s first hour viewership of 558,000 overall viewers was the highest since their April 8th episode and 236,000 key demographic viewers was the highest since their April 22nd episode. Meltzer also reported that had that week’s Rampage show been listed as a regular two-hour show instead of two separate one-hour shows, it would have ranked fifth for the night.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College football game of Virginia vs. Syracuse drew 1,792,000 viewers on ESPN, MLB Tonight Prime drew 161,000 viewers on MLB Network, On Patrol Live drew 798,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 611,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 222,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split for the first hour was 155,000 male viewers and 81,000 female viewers for a split of 65.7% in favor of males. Meltzer also reported that week’s Rampage show did not rank in the Top 10 youngest skewing sports show for the week while that week’s Dynamite was the youngest overall skewing sports show.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 18.4% in overall viewership and down 38% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 601,000 overall viewers and 254,000 key demo viewers (Sting & Darby Allin vs. Brody King & Buddy Matthews)
2Q – 545,000 overall viewers and 227,000 key demo viewers (HOOK & Action Bronson vs. 2point0 tag team match)
3Q – 547,000 overall viewers and 231,000 key demo viewers (Samoa Joe & Wardlow vs. Tony Nese & Josh Woods and the beginning of the Jungle Boy vs. Rey Fenix match)
4Q – 541,000 overall viewers and 232,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Jungle Boy vs. Fenix match)
5Q – 556,000 overall viewers and 233,000 key demo viewers (Jungle Boy vs. Fenix post-match angle with Christian Cage & Luchasaurus and the Eddie Kingston vs. Sammy Guevara match)
6Q – 502,000 overall viewers and 218,000 key demo viewers (Kingston-Guevara post-match, the Jade Cargill vs. Diamante match, and the start of the Grand Slam Golden Ticket Battle Royale match)
7Q – 449,000 overall viewers and 192,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Grand Slam Golden Ticket Battle Royale match)
8Q – 437,000 overall viewers and 188,000 key demo viewers (Lights Out match of Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs)