More on AEW Dynamite Week 183 Viewership – Apr. 12, 2023, Rampage Week 86 – Apr. 7, 2023, Battle of the Belts VI

Apr 15, 2023

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for April 12th

The April 12th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW suffer a slightly decline in overall viewership and key demographic ratings.

AEW drew 866,000 viewers and a 0.28 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s declines this week was due to stiff sports competition from the 2023 NBA Play-in Tournament and the large decline from their older key demographic viewership, which was down 16.2% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the large decline from their female key demographic viewership group, which was down 11.8% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the gains from their younger key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which were up 8.1% and 5.3% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2023 NBA Playoffs Play-In game of Chicago Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors drew 2,183,000 viewers on ESPN, the 2023 NBA Playoffs Play-In game of Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans drew 2,858,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues drew 299,000 viewers on TNT, the MLB simulcast games of Detroit vs. Toronto and Cincinnati vs. Atlanta drew 172,000 viewers on MLB Network, the MLB simulcast games of Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco and Kansas City vs. Texas drew 172,000 viewers on MLB Network, Vanderpump Rules drew 1,124,000 viewers on Bravo, and Moonshiners drew 640,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 365,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 260,000 male viewers (down 3.5%) and 105,000 female viewers (down 11.8%) for a split of 71.2% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, none of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 919,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 779,000 viewers for their eighth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 11.4% in overall viewership and down 24.1% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 14.8% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 919,000 overall viewers and 365,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland match)
2Q – 901,000 overall viewers and 372,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Allin vs. Strickland match and the bulk of the Allin & MJF promo segment)
3Q – 902,000 overall viewers and 379,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Allin & MJF promo segment with Sting, the TNT Championship match of Silas Young vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (c) and post-match with Wardlow & Aaron Solo, and the Bullet Club Gold video segment)
4Q – 854,000 overall viewers and 354,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the AEW International Championship match of Buddy Matthews vs. Orange Cassidy (c))
5Q – 896,000 overall viewers and 383,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the AEW International Championship match, the Christian & Luchasaurus video segment, the Best Friends, Cassidy, & Aussie Open backstage segment, the Ethan Page, Matty Hardy, & Isiah Cassidy promo segment & brawl with The Firm, HOOK, & Jeff Hardy, and the Kenny Omega video promo segment)
6Q – 886,000 overall viewers and 378,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brandon Cutler & Michael Nakazawa match and post-match brawl with The Elite and the Strickland, Prince Nana, & Brian Cage backstage interview segment)
7Q – 789,000 overall viewers and 344,000 key demo viewers (Ruby Soho & Toni Storm vs. Riho & Skye Blue and post-match brawl with Saraya, Britt Baker, & Jamie Hayter)
8Q – 779,000 overall viewers and 345,000 key demo viewers (Chris Jericho vs. Keith Lee and post-match with Adam Cole)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for April 7th

The April 7th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a very large increase in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a large increase in key demographic ratings.

AEW drew 503,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for AEW’s increases this week was due to the very large gains from all of their demographic viewership groups, which were up 200% in Teenagers viewership, up 120% in younger key demographic viewership, up 53.3% in older key demographic viewership, and up 22.2% in Over 50 viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s key demographic viewership was its highest since the December 23, 2022 episode.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers drew 599,000 viewers on NBA TV, the 2023 Masters Golf tournament drew 652,000 viewers on ESPN, the MLB simulcast games of Toronto vs. Los Angeles Angels and Washington vs. Colorado drew 165,000 viewers on MLB Network, On Patrol Live drew 809,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, 90 Day Other Way drew 483,000 viewers, Gold Rush Parker’s Trail drew 958,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and Love After Lockup drew 529,000 viewers on WETV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 219,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership skew was 143,000 male viewers and 79,000 female viewers for a split of 64.4% in favor of males. Meltzer reported that week’s Rampage show was the fifteenth youngest skewing sports show for the week while that week’s Dynamite was the eleventh youngest skewed sports show, behind three NBA games, three NHL games, three soccer games, and one UFC event. Meltzer also reported that AEW’s Battle of the Belts VI special was the fourteenth youngest and WWE’s RAW After WrestleMania show was the twelfth youngest skewing sports show for that week.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 16.2% in overall viewership and down 35.4% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 33.2% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 530,000 overall viewers and 219,000 key demo viewers (FTW Championship match of Ethan Page vs. HOOK (c) and the QTV video segment)
2Q – 492,000 overall viewers and 220,000 key demo viewers (The Acclaimed, Angelo Parker & Matt Menard vs. LSG, The Infantry, & Bobby Orlando, the Swerve Strickland backstage video promo segment, and the start of the Darby Allin vs. Lee Moriarty match)
3Q – 489,000 overall viewers and 228,000 key demo viewers (The second half of the Allin vs. Moriarty match and post-match angle with Brian Cage & Swerve Strickland and the Jade Cargill, Taya Valkyrie, Mark Sterling, & Leila Grey backstage segment)
4Q – 501,000 overall viewers and 208,000 key demo viewers (Anna Jay A.S. vs. Julia Hart)

More on AEW Battle of the Belts VI Viewership for April 7th

As noted before, the April 7th AEW Battle of the Belts VI special drew 415,000 viewers, a 0.14 key demographic rating, and a #12 key demographic ranking.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers drew 599,000 viewers on NBA TV, the MLB simulcast games of Toronto vs. Los Angeles Angels and Washington vs. Colorado drew 165,000 viewers on MLB Network, and On Patrol Live drew 809,000 viewers on REELZ Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW drew 182,000 viewers. Dave Meltzer reported that AEW’s male/female viewership skew was 64.3% in favor of males.

AEW Battle of the Belts VI quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 458,000 overall viewers and 179,000 key demo viewers (AEW International Championship match of Dralistico vs. Orange Cassidy (c))
2Q – 412,000 overall viewers and 185,000 key demo viewers (Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Jeff Jarrett, & Satnam Singh backstage segment, and the TBS Championship match of Billie Starkz vs. Jade Cargill (c))
3Q – 397,000 overall viewers and 171,000 key demo viewers (The TBS Championship post-match brawl with Taya Valkyrie, the Brandon Cutler & Michael Nakazawa backstage interview segment, and the Lucha Brothers and Powerhouse Hobbs & QT Marshall pre-match backstage split-screen interview segment)
4Q – 392,000 overall viewers and 176,000 key demo viewers (ROH World Tag Team Championship match of Hobbs & Marshall vs. Lucha Brothers (c))