More on AEW vs. NXT Week 58 Viewership

Nov 14, 2020

More on AEW vs. NXT Week 58 Viewership

The November 11th episodes of AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT saw both shows rebound in terms of overall viewership and key demographic rankings. AEW also managed to continue their advantage over NXT in key demographic rankings.

AEW drew 764,000 viewers and a #17 ranking in the 18-49 demographic while NXT drew 632,000 and a #56 ranking in the 18-49 demographic.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason for the increase in both shows was due to news coverage of the 2020 Presidential Election was not as severe as last week. Unlike last week where the Top 50 shows for the night were all news related programming, this week featured three non-news shows in the Top 20, including AEW’s show.

Meltzer reported that this week’s viewership number for AEW should be considered disappointing due to it coming off of the Full Gear pay-per-view event and the pre-show hype surrounding Tony Khan’s statement on Twitter of a “shift in wrestling’s balance of power” happening during the show.

Due to NXT not being ranked in the Top 50, detailed demographic breakdowns were not available for their show this week. Meltzer reported that AEW had more female viewers than male viewers in the 18-34 demographic group and Male 12-34 viewers performed poorly by AEW’s standards for that group.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW reportedly had 389,000 viewers while NXT had 210,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest gain was with Females 35-49 group at 11.4% higher and their biggest decline was with Males 18-34 geoup at 23.2% lower than last week’s show. NXT reportedly gained in every key demographic group with their biggest being Males 18-34 group at 115.4% higher than last week’s show.

In terms of quarter-hour breakdowns, AEW won every quarter in terms of overall viewership and key demographic viewership.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 20.2% in overall viewers and down 30.2% in key demographic viewers. NXT was down 15.7% in overall viewers and down 36% in key demographic viewers.

AEW Dynamite started off with around 773,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the ending of the Bunkhouse match between the Natural Nightmares and The Butcher & The Blade, the Miro, Kip Sabian, & Penelope Ford promo segment, and start of the MJF Inner Circle induction ceremony which gained 54,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest decline of the night was the ending of the MFJ Inner Circle induction segment, Young Bucks vs. FTR recap video, Young Bucks promo segment, and start of the Scorpio Sky vs. Shawn Spears match which lost 123,000 viewers.

WWE NXT started off with around 717,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the ending of the Candice LeRae vs. Toni Storm match and post-match stuff and the start of the Dexter Lumis vs. Timothy Thatcher match which gained 32,000 viewers. NXT’s biggest decline of the night was the Thatcher, August Gray, and Lumis segment and the start of the LeRae vs. Storm match which lost 71,000 viewers.

United Kingdom Viewership for Several October AEW & NXT Shows

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the October 21st episode of NXT on BT Sport in the United Kingdom did not chart meaning its viewership is currently not known. AEW reportedly drew 123,000 viewers for their October 23rd episode on ITV 4 in the United Kingdom.