More on AEW & NXT Week 128 Viewership – March 15 & 16, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 31

Mar 19, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for March 15th

The March 15th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a slight increase in overall viewership and key demographic ratings and a small increase in key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 624,000 viewers and a 0.14 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 44th place.

Detailed demographic and quarter-hours breakdowns were not available in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for NXT’s increases this week was due to the gains from their younger key demographic viewership, which was up 11.9% compared to last week’s show. Another main reason reportedly was due to less stiff competition from news-related programming that night. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overall viewership was its highest since their January 11th episode and overall key demographic viewership was its highest since their January 25th episode. Meltzer also reported that the median viewership age for this week’s episode of NXT was 61 years old.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2022 NCAA Basketball tournament game of Indiana vs. Wyoming drew 2,196,000 viewers on TruTV, the 2022 NCAA Basketball tournament game of Texas A&M CC vs. Texas Southern drew 1,203,000 viewers on TruTV, Real Housewives of New Jersey drew 1,035,000 viewers on Bravo, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,528,000 viewers on History Channel, and Wipeout drew 493,000 viewers on TBS.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 178,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 was down 24%, Females 18-34 was up 64.7%, Males 35-49 was up 22.2%, and Females 35-49 was down 34% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 4.5% in overall viewership and up 8.5% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overall 18-34 key demographic viewership was down 14.5% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for March 16

The March 16th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a large increase in overall viewership but also suffered a small decrease in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings. This week’s show was notable for being the St. Patrick’s Day Slam 2022 special.

AEW drew 993,000 viewers and a 0.38 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 mixed results this week was due to very stiff sports competition that night. Another reason reportedly was due to AEW’s gains from their younger key demographic viewership was offset by their declines from their older key demographic viewership. AEW’s overall 18-34 viewership was up 6.1% while their overall 35-49 viewership was down 3.5% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2022 NCAA basketball tournament game of Notre Dame vs. Rutgers drew 2,206,000 viewers on TruTV, the 2022 NCAA basketball tournament game of Bryant vs. Wright State drew 1,281,000 viewers on TruTV, the NBA game of Dallas Mavericks vs. Brooklyn Nets drew 1,251,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Boston Bruins vs. Minnesota Wild drew 499,000 viewers on TNT, and South Park drew 493,000 viewers on Comedy Central.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 498,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 7.5%, Females 18-34 was up 4.3%, Males 35-49 was up 3.3%, and Females 35-49 was down 31.6% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of the million viewership milestone, four out of AEW’s eight quarter hours averaged one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak was at 1,062,000 viewers for their first quarter and their low point was 911,000 viewers for their sixth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 29.3% in overall viewership and up 37.6% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Dynamite started off with around 1,062,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Hardys vs. Private Party post-match angle with Darby Allin, Sting, & AFO, the Red Velvet backstage interview segment, and the start of the AEW Women’s Championship Steel Cage match of Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker (c) which gained 60,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest decline of the night was the Hardys vs. Private Party match which lost 112,000 viewers.

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for March 11th

The March 11th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW suffer small declines in overall viewership and key demographic rankings.

AEW Rampage drew 526,000 viewers and a 0.22 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 23rd place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s declines that week was due to stiff sports competition that night. Another reason was due to the gains from their females younger key demographic and males older key demographic viewership groups were offset by the declines from their males younger key demographic viewership and older female key demographic viewership groups. Meltzer reported that this caused AEW’s overall key demographic viewership to be down 3.8% and their younger key demographic viewership to be down 2.3% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NCAA game of Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina drew 1,277,000 viewers on ESPN, the NCAA game of Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma drew 684,000 viewers on ESPN 2, and Gold Rush: White Water drew 1,211,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 282,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 16.7%, Females 18-34 was up 40.9%, Males 35-49 was up 2.2%, and Females 35-49 was down 16.2% compared to the prior week’s show. Meltzer reported that week’s Rampage show was the second youngest skewing sports show for the week, only behind that week’s Dynamite show.

AEW Rampage started off with around 592,000 viewers and had around 524,000 viewers for their second quarter, around 489,000 viewers for their third quarter, and around 508,000 viewers for their main event quarter featuring Swerve Strickland vs. Tony Nese.