More on AEW Dynamite Week 180 Viewership – March 22, 2023, Rampage Week 83 – March 17, 2023

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for March 22nd

The March 22nd episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a very large increase in overall viewership and a large increase in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

AEW drew 954,000 viewers and a 0.33 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 4th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s increases this week was due to a combination of a stronger than usual viewership gains following the first two quarter hours and the large gains from their younger female key demographic viewership and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were up 24.3% and 43.7% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Golden State Warriors vs. Dallas Mavericks drew 1,797,000 viewers on ESPN, the 2023 NIT Basketball Tournament game of Cincinnati vs. Utah Valley drew 495,000 viewers on ESPN2, the 2023 NIT Basketball Tournament game of UAB vs. Vanderbilt drew 438,000 viewers on ESPN2, the NHL game of Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Colorado Avalanche drew 462,000 viewers on TNT, Vanderpump Rules drew 1,053,000 viewers on Bravo, My 600-LB Life drew 645,000 viewers on TLC, and Moonshiners drew 619,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 434,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 had 111,000 viewers, Females 18-34 had 70,000 viewers, Males 35-49 had 190,000 viewers, and Females 35-49 had 63,000 viewers (down 3.6%). Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 301,000 male viewers and 133,000 female viewers for a split of 69.4% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, one of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,016,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 894,000 viewers for their second quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 8.8% in overall viewership and down 18.1% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 13.8% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

• 1Q – 1,016,000 overall viewers and 391,000 key demo viewers (Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, & Hangman Adam Page backstage segment and the bulk of the Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, & Sting vs. Kip Sabian, The Butcher, & The Blade match)
• 2Q – 894,000 overall viewers and 386,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Cassidy, Allin, & Sting vs. Sabian, Butcher, & Blade match and the bulk of the AEW World Tag Team Championship match of Top Flight vs. The Gunns (c))
• 3Q – 988,000 overall viewers and 439,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the AEW World Tag Team Championship match and post-match promo with FTR, the Jade Cargill, Leila Grey, & Mark Sterling backstage interview segment, the Stokely Hathaway pre-match promo segment, and the No DQ match of HOOK vs. Hathaway)
• 4Q – 942,000 overall viewers and 441,000 key demo viewers (Adam Cole & Daniel Garcia promo segment and the Omega & Don Callis backstage segment)
• 5Q – 951,000 overall viewers and 437,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley vs. Stu Grayson match and the Ricky Starks backstage interview segment)
• 6Q – 911,000 overall viewers and 458,000 key demo viewers (QTV video segment and the Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue match)
• 7Q – 965,000 overall viewers and 461,000 key demo viewers (Storm vs. Blue post-match angle with The Outcasts, Riho, & Willow Nightingale, the Blackpool Combat Club & Grayson backstage brawl segment, and the start of the El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega match)
• 8Q – 969,000 overall viewers and 455,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Vikingo vs. Omega match and post-match brawl BCC, Hangman Page, & Callis)

---

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for March 17th

The March 17th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a small increase in overall viewership and key demographic ratings but suffered a small decline in key demographic rankings. That week’s show was notable for airing at a later start time of 11:30PM EST due to TNT’s 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament commitments.

AEW drew 474,000 viewers and a 0.18 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 26th 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 very large lead-in viewership from the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game of Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis, which drew 2,377,000 viewers and a key demographic rating of 0.82, and the large gains from their older key demographic viewership, which was up 36.8% compared to the prior week’s show. This reportedly mostly offset the declines from their younger key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which were down 10% each compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers drew 337,000 viewers on NBA TV, the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game of Kent State vs. Indiana drew 1,767,000 viewers on TBS, the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game of Arizona State vs. TCU drew 1,426,000 viewers on TruTV, and On Patrol Live drew 997,000 viewers on REELZ Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 228,000 viewers

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 19.1% in overall viewership and up 37.3% in key demographic viewership.