WWE: Triple H on NXT Europe, NBC on Potential WWE Purchase, More on NXT Jan. 24, 2023 Viewership

Triple H Announces More Details for NXT Europe’s Launch Planned for This Summer

Variety held a recent interview with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. One of the topics discussed included Levesque revealing that more details regarding WWE’s plans for the launch of their upcoming new NXT Europe brand will be shared this summer.

“I would like to be able to find the best athletes and the largest personalities and the most entertaining people from every place in the world, and bring them into what we do. Because when you begin to create those characters and those stars from every region, those regions become more engaged in what we do. If you can begin to go to all these places, and begin to find athletes there that can resonate on a global stage, some will make it big, some will make it small, some won’t make it at all. But that Indian talent, let’s say, that you have that main events WrestleMania and is a native of that country, that wholesale changes how [that country] views the product.

NXT UK was based mostly on independent wrestling workers, guys that worked their way up and found their way to us. We’re starting the process there doing the same thing we’re doing here. There isn’t an NCAA collegiate level of athletics in Europe, but there’s a lot of athletes that are training in a lot of places like Loughborough or whatever, for specific sports. We’re beginning to engage with them now and finding the same interest level that we’re finding in NCAA athletes here.”

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NBC Universal Comments on Idea of Potential Purchase of WWE

NBC Universal’s parent company Comcast held an investor’s meeting this past Thursday discussing the results from their recent fiscal report. One of the topics discussed included NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell’s thoughts on the potential of Comcast purchasing WWE in the future.

“We are always looking for bolt-on acquisitions that bolster our businesses. Two examples: we bought DreamWorks [Animation]… and it has been paying off steadily since our acquisition. Just now, with Puss In Boots [The Last Wish], which is a big hit at the box office and really our entrance back into the Shrek universe, continues to make that acquisition look really favorable, And our Blumhouse investment over time, where we’re partners with Jason Blum, and we have a big hit, M3GAN, this month, which is coming out of that investment.”

Source: Deadline.com

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More on NXT Week 172 Viewership – Jan. 24, 2023

The January 24th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a slight increase in overall viewership but also suffered slight declines in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 607,000 viewers and a 0.12 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 28th 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 was due to the large declines from their younger key demographic and make key demographic viewership groups, which were down 14.3% and 20.3% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly mostly offset the gains from their female key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which were up 17.4% and 5.9% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat drew 1,046,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Ohio State vs. Illinois drew 705,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of North Carolina vs. Syracuse drew 855,000 viewers on ESPN, Bering Sea Gold drew 733,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,490,000 viewers on History Channel, and 1000-lb Sisters drew 1,071,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 162,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 108,000 male viewers and 54,000 female viewers for a split of 66.7% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 2.4% in overall viewership but down 12% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was down 40% compared to the same week last year.