More on AEW & NXT Week 160 Viewership – Nov. 1 & 2, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 64 – Oct. 28, 2022

Nov 5, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for November 1st

The November 1st episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a large decline in overall viewership and a small decline in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 670,000 viewers and a 0.13 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 22nd 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 declines this week was due to the large declines from their female key demographic viewership and 35-49 key demographic viewership groups, which were down 21.1% and 30.3% respectively compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to stiff sports competition that night, especially from the MLB 2022 World Series.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the MLB 2022 World Series Game 3 of Houston Astros vs. Philadelphia Phillies drew 11,162,000 viewers on FOX, the NBA game of Chicago Bulls vs. Brooklyn Nets drew 1,260,000 viewers on TNT, the NHL game of Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins drew 699,000 viewers on ESPN, Little People, Big World drew 1,402,000 viewers on TLC, Below Deck Adventure drew 421,000 viewers on Bravo, and Deadliest Catch Viking drew 720,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 176,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 130,000 male viewers and 46,000 female viewers for a split of 73.9% in favor of males. Meltzer also reported that the male split skew for this week’s show was one of the highest ever for an NXT show which should not have been the case due to sports competition typically draws away far more male viewers than female viewers from WWE.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 6.2% in overall viewership and down 11.1% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 37.5% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for November 2nd

The November 2nd episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW suffer a large decline in overall viewership and a small decline in key demographic ratings but also gained a slight increase in key demographic ratings.

AEW drew 911,000 viewers and a 0.29 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 3rd place.

Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s mixed results this week was due to very stiff sports competition that night from the MLB 2022 World Series, which greatly impacted AEW’s main event quarter the most. Meltzer reported that due to the situation with the game’s no hitter status at the time, AEW suffered one of their lowest ever key demographic viewership’s for a main event quarter in Dynamite history at 286,000 viewers. Another reason reportedly was due to all of AEW’s demographic viewership groups were all down by 20% in Teenagers, 9.9% in younger key demographic viewership, 9.7% in older key demographic viewership, and 8.7% in Over 50 viewership compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the gains from their younger female key demographic viewership group, which was up 1.9% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the MLB 2022 World Series Game 4 of Houston Astros vs. Philadelphia Phillies drew 11,809,000 viewers on FOX, the NBA game of Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers drew 1,371,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabers drew 236,000 viewers on TNT, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 561,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 388,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 15.6%, Females 18-34 was up 1.9%, Males 35-49 was down 7.6%, and Females 35-49 was down 14%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 250,000 male viewers and 138,000 female viewers for a split of 64.4% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, two out of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,091,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 738,000 viewers for their eighth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 3.8% in overall viewership but down 10.8% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was up 5.8% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 1,091,000 overall viewers and 464,000 key demo viewers (Jay Lethal vs. Daby Allin match and post-match with Jeff Jarrett)
2Q – 968,000 overall viewers and 426,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley promo segment and the bulk of the Moxley vs. Lee Moriarty match)
3Q – 901,000 overall viewers and 388,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Moxley vs. Moriarty match and post-match with Ethan Page and the Saraya interview segment)
4Q – 1,020,000 overall viewers and 436,000 key demo viewers (The Acclaimed, Billy Gunn, The Firm, & FTR Daddy Ass Birthday Bash segment, the Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter backstage segment, and the Chris Jericho promo segment)
5Q – 880,000 overall viewers and 361,000 key demo viewers (ROH World Championship match of Colt Cabana vs. Chris Jericho (c) and post-match brawl with JAS & Blackpool Combat Club and the Death Triangle backstage segment)
6Q – 882,000 overall viewers and 343,000 key demo viewers (AEW All-Atlantic Championship match of Luchasaurus vs. Rey Fenix vs. Orange Cassidy (c) and post-match with PAC, Katsuyori Shibata, & Best Friends)
7Q – 802,000 overall viewers and 311,000 key demo viewers (Swerve In Our Glory & Rick Ross backstage segment and the TBS Championship match of Marina Shafir vs. Jade Cargill (c))
8Q – 738,000 overall viewers and 286,000 key demo viewers (ROH World Television Championship match of Brian Cage vs. Samoa Joe (c) and post-match brawl with The Embassy, Wardlow, & Powerhouse Hobbs)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for October 28th

The October 28th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW suffer a large decline in overall viewership, a small decline on key demographic rankings, and a slight decline in key demographic ratings.

AEW Rampage drew 378,000 viewers and a 0.12 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 27th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for AEW’s declines that week was due to very stiff sports competition that night from the MLB 2022 World Series. Another reason reportedly was due to the large declines from their older key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which were down 27.3% and 29.2% respectively compared to the prior week’s show. This reportedly offset the gains from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 100% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the MLB 2022 World Series Game 1 of Philadelphia Phillies vs. Houston Astros drew 11,475,000 viewers on FOX, the NBA game of New Orleans Pelicans vs. Phoenix Suns drew 1,028,000 viewers on ESPN, the College Football game of East Carolina vs. BYU drew 823,000 viewers on ESPN2, Gold Rush: The Dirt drew 778,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, On Patrol Live drew 714,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 638,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 158,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 109,000 male viewers and 49,000 female viewers for a split of 69% in favor of males. Meltzer also reported that week’s Rampage show was the twenty-first youngest skewing sports show for the week while that week’s Dynamite was the twentieth youngest skewing sports show.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 39.3% in overall viewership and down 50.6% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 52.9% compared to the same week last year. Meltzer also reported that the main reason for the large declines was due to last year’s show went head-to-head against WWE’s SmackDown show for its first thirty minutes.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 423,000 overall viewers and 167,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley vs. Matt Menard match and post-match angle with Stokely Hathaway & Lee Moriarty)
2Q – 399,000 overall viewers and 181,000 key demo viewers (Jade Cargill promo segment, the Keith Lee vs. Serpentico match and post-match angle with The Acclaimed, Swerve Strickland, & Billy Gunn, the JAS backstage segment, and the start of the Madison Rayne vs. Tay Melo match)
3Q – 328,000 overall viewers and 133,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Rayne vs. Melo match, Ethan Page backstage segment, and the Wardlow & Matt Taven backstage pre-match interview segment)
4Q – 362,000 overall viewers and 152,000 key demo viewers (TNT Championship match of Taven vs. Wardlow (c) and post-match brawl with Mike Bennett, The Embassy, Samoa Joe, & Powerhouse Hobbs)