More on AEW vs. NXT Week 69 & 70 Viewership

Feb 6, 2021

AEW vs. NXT Week 69 Viewership Update

As noted before, the January 27th episodes of AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT resulted in Dynamite generating around 734,000 viewers on TNT and a #6 ranking in the 18-49 key demographic while NXT generated around 720,000 viewers on USA Network and a #24 ranking in the 18-49 key demographic.

That week’s episode of AEW Dynamite was notable for issues with the show’s feed that affected some of TNT’s cable markets and FITE TV’s broadcast lasting as much as an hour into the show in some areas.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that in terms of overall key demographic viewership breakdowns, AEW had 67,000 viewers for Males 18-34 group, 32,000 viewers for Females 18-34 group, 191,000 viewers for Males 35-49 group, and 90,000 viewers for Females 35-49 group. NXT reportedly had 38,000 viewers for Males 18-34 group, 37,000 viewers for Females 18-34 group, 109,000 viewers for Males 35-49 group, and 94,000 viewers for Females 35-49 group.

In regards to the impact of AEW’s feed blackout from first to last quarter, AEW went from 30,000 viewers to 78,000 viewers in Males 18-34, from 30,000 to 35,000 viewers in Females 18-34, remained the same with 184,000 viewers in Males 35-49, and from 132,000 to 63,000 viewers in Females 35-49. NXT reportedly went from 38,000 to 58,000 viewers in Males 18-34, from 64,000 viewers to 19,000 viewers in Females 18-34, from 146,000 to 75,000 viewers in Males 35-49, and from 115,000 to 75,000 viewers in Females 35-49.

More on AEW vs. NXT Week 70 Viewership

The February 3rd episodes of AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT saw AEW rebound in viewership while NXT suffered a large drop in viewership. AEW continued their advantage over NXT in regards of key demographic viewership. This week’s shows were notable for being AEW’s “Beach Break” special and NXT’s featuring a special appearance by Edge.

AEW drew 844,000 viewers and a #3 ranking in the 18-49 demographic while NXT drew 610,000 and a #51 ranking in the 18-49 demographic.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that despite sports competition from the NBA, AEW’s show managed to beat the NBA game on ESPN in head-to-head competition in key demographic viewership. Meltzer also reported that the NHL game on NBCSN managed to beat NXT’s show in key demographic viewership which should be an interesting case if the trend continues due to NBC’s recent decision to move their sports programming over to USA Network in the near future.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 408,000 viewers while NXT had 197,000 viewers. NXT reportedly had 609,000 for overall viewership and 195,000 for key demographic viewership during their head-to-head competition with AEW’s show. Meltzer reported that AEW’s show this week managed to skew the oldest in a long time which should be considered a disappointment due to the special themed nature of the show, the big wedding segment, and the build towards the upcoming Shaquille O’Neal match.

In terms of key demographic breakdowns, AEW’s biggest gain was with their Females 35-49 group at 14.4% higher and their only decline was with their Males 18-34 group at 3% lower than last week’s show. All four of NXT’s key demographic groups were down with the biggest decline being their Females 18-34 group at 45.9% lower than last week’s show.

In terms of the main event quarter, AEW had 804,000 for overall viewership and 409,000 for key demographic viewership. NXT reportedly had 519,000 for overall viewership and 183,000 for key demographic viewership.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 9.1% in overall viewership and down 12.8% in key demographic viewership while NXT was down 20.8% in overall viewership and 31.6% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Dynamite started off with around 952,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford wedding segment which gained 97,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest decline of the night was the Hangman Adam Page & Matt Hardy vs. Chaos Project match, the women’s tournament announcement segment, and the Inner Circle segment which lost 97,000 viewers.

WWE NXT started off with around 713,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Finn Balor, Pete Dunne, & Edge interview segment, the Johnny Gargano and KUSHIDA segment, and the Toni Storm vs. Jessi Kamea match which gained 24,000 viewers. NXT’s biggest decline of the night was the Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole & Roderick Strong match which lost 67,000 viewers. NXT’s overrun gained an additional 109,000 viewers to end the night.