More on AEW & NXT Week 168 Viewership – Dec. 27 & 28, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 71 – Dec. 23, 2022

Dec 31, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for December 27th

The December 27th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a very large decline in overall viewership and a small decline in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings. This week’s episode was notable for being a taped and not a live show.

NXT drew 588,000 viewers and a 0.12 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 25th 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 very large declines from their younger key demographic viewership and Over 50 demographic viewership groups, which were down 35.7% and 19% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the large decline in their male key demographic viewership, which was down 15.4% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large gains from their female key demographic viewership and older key demographic viewership groups, which were up 13.5% and 7.1% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College football Birmingham Bowl 2022 game of Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina drew 2,620,000 viewers on ESPN, the NBA game of New York Knicks vs. Dallas Mavericks drew 376,000 viewers on NBA TV, the College basketball game of Seton Hall vs. Marquette drew 148,000 viewers on FS1, Little People, Big World drew 1,290,000 viewers on TLC, Bering Sea Gold drew 650,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and Curse of Oak Island drew 1,613,000 viewers on History Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 163,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 104,000 male viewers and 59,000 female viewers for a split of 63.8% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 11.2% in overall viewership and down 18% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was down 16% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for December 28th

The December 28th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW suffer a large drop in overall viewership and a small drop in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings. This week’s show was notable for being the New Year’s Smash 2022 special.

AEW drew 876,000 viewers and a 0.28 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 5th 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 AEW’s declines this week was due to very stiff sports competition that night from College football bowl games and the large decline from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was down 24% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the decline from their Over 50 demographic viewership group, which was down 4.7% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the gains from their older key demographic viewership group, which was up 5.7% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College football Holiday Bowl 2022 game of Oregon vs. North Carolina drew 3,969,000 viewers on FOX, the College football Texas Bowl 2022 game of Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss drew 2,601,000 viewers on ESPN, the College football Liberty Bowl 2022 game of Arkansas vs. Kansas drew 3,914,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Boston Bruins vs. New Jersey Devils drew 534,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Florida vs. Auburn drew 282,000 viewers on ESPN2, and Challenge: Ride or Dies drew 551,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 365,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 231,000 male viewers and 134,000 female viewers for a split of 63.3% in favor of males.

While quarter hours viewership was not available at the time of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer reported in Friday’s Daily Update that AEW’s first quarter hour viewership was lower than usual but the show managed to hold up well until the fifth quarter hour (9:15 PM) and dropped afterwards. The seventh quarter hour reportedly drew 745,000 overall viewers and 304,000 key demographic viewers while the main event quarter featuring the TNT Championship match of Wardlow vs. Samoa Joe (c) reportedly drew 817,000 overall viewers and 329,000 key demographic viewers.

In an interesting note, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that AEW managed to top this past Monday’s WWE RAW show in overall key demographic viewership for only the third time in Dynamite history. RAW reportedly had 352,000 overall key demographic viewers. Thurston reported that the main reason was due to AEW’s male key demographic viewership and older key demographic viewership were higher than RAW in both groups.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 10.2% in overall viewership and down 24.7% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was equal compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for December 23rd

The December 23rd episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a very large increase in overall viewership, a large increase in key demographic rankings, and a small increase in key demographic ratings.

AEW Rampage drew 566,000 viewers and a 0.18 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 5th 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 AEW’s increases that week was due to the weaker than usual non-sports competition that night and the large gains from their younger key demographic viewership and male key demographic viewership, which were up 100% and 19.9% compared to the prior week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the gains from their Over 50 viewership group, which was up 4.8% compared to the prior week’s show. This reportedly offset the large decline from their older key demographic viewership, which was down 24.1% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Memphis Grizzles vs. Phoenix Suns drew 1,354,000 viewers, the College basketball game of Washington State vs. Hawaii drew 151,000 viewers on ESPN2, Gold Rush: The Dirt drew 891,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Gold Rush: White Water drew 373,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 552,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 235,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 156,000 male viewers and 79,000 female viewers for a split of 66.4% in favor of males. Meltzer also reported that week’s Rampage show was the ninth ranked youngest skewing sports show for the week, behind six NBA games and two NHL games. That week’s Dynamite show reportedly was the tenth ranked youngest skewing sports show.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 3.9% in overall viewership and down 29.9% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 17.6% compared to the same week last year. Meltzer reported that last year’s show took place on a Saturday.