More on AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT Week 12 Viewership

This past Wednesday’s episodes of AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT saw NXT emerge victorious in viewership by a sizable margin and in the key demographic rating for the first time since the start of the head-to-head competition.

AEW Dynamite drew 683,000 viewers on TNT and a #30 ranking in 18-49 demographic while NXT drew 795,000 viewers on USA Network and a #27 ranking in 18-49 demographic.

Both shows likely would have had higher overall viewership totals had it not been for the presidential impeachment hearings, which drew big ratings on news networks on Wednesday night. It’s possible that NXT would have had a bigger overall viewership lead if that was the case due to NXT skewing a lot more towards older viewers, who typically are more interested in cable news.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason for NXT’s key demographic win was likely due to women viewers, which was up by around 58% compared to the previous week, and DVR viewership eating more into AEW’s live viewership, which leans a lot more towards younger viewers. NXT reportedly won seven of the eight quarter hours and NXT starting out with a huge viewership lead was the main reason for their viewership victory in the end.

AEW Dynamite started off with around 689,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Chris Jericho vs Jungle Boy match which gained 135,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest decline of the night was the Jericho post-match interview and SCU backstage interview which lost 113,000 viewers.

NXT started off with around 977,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Killian Dain vs. Damian Priest match which gained 84,000 viewers. NXT’s biggest decline of the night was the ending to the NXT Championship match and the post-match attack which lost 104,000 viewers. NXT’s over-run gained an additional 145,000 viewers to end the night.

In regards to Canadian viewership, the December 18th episode of AEW Dynamite drew 76,400 viewers on TSN and the December 11th episode of NXT which aired on December 13th drew 82,000 viewers on SportsNet 360. AEW’s viewership in Canada may have also been impacted by the U.S. presidential impeachment news airing in the country.