More on AEW & NXT Week 128 Viewership – March 22 & 23, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 32

Mar 26, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for March 22nd

The March 22nd episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a slight increase in overall viewership and a large increase in key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 628,000 viewers and a 0.14 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 29th 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 large gains from their Teenagers and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were up 25% and 34% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks drew 1,008,000 viewers on TNT, the 2022 NIT Basketball tournament game of Vanderbilt vs. Xavier drew 860,000 viewers on ESPN, the 2022 NIT Basketball tournament game of St. Bonaventure vs. Virginia drew 693,000 viewers on ESPN, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,683,000 viewers on History Channel, and Real Housewives of New Jersey drew 996,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of peak viewership, Meltzer reported that NXT’s quarter hour peak was at 717,000 for overall viewership and 191,000 for key demographic viewership during the Bron Breakker vs. Robert Roode match. NXT’s peak demographic viewership was at 201,000 viewers during the A-Kid vs. Grayson Waller match.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 184,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 was up 105.3%, Females 18-34 was down 14.3%, Males 35-49 was down 9.1%, and Females 35-49 was down 6.1% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 7.4% in overall viewership and up 0.5% in key demographic viewership.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for March 23rd

The March 23rd episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a large increase in overall viewership, and small increased in their key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

AEW drew 1,046,000 viewers and a 0.41 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 3rd place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s increases this week was due to the large gains from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 22.5% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the gains from their over 50 viewership group, which was up 10.5% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly was enough to offset the small decline from their older key demographic viewership group, which was down 2.2% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Brooklyn Nets vs. Memphis Grizzles drew 1,404,000 viewers on ESPN, the 2022 NIT basketball tournament game of Texas A&M vs. Wake Forrest drew 765,000 viewers on ESPN2, the NHL game of Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres drew 461,000 viewers on TNT, and Real Housewives of Orange County drew 820,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 530,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 18%, Females 18-34 was up 28.8%, Males 35-49 was down 2%, and Females 35-49 was down 2.6% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of the million viewership milestone, seven out of AEW’s eight quarter hours averaged one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak was at 1,221,000 viewers for their first quarter and their low point was at 919,000 for their eighth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 38.2% in overall viewership and up 38% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Dynamite started off with around 1,221,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Adam Cole post-match promo & brawl with Hangman Adam Page, the Dustin Rhodes vs. Lance Archer match hype video segment, and the Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, & Dan Lambert promo segment which gained 28,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest decline of the night was the ending of the Hardys, Sting, & Darby Allin vs. Private Party, The Butcher, & The Blade 8-Man tag team match, the FTR backstage interview segment, and the Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley vs. Varsity Blonds match which lost 125,000 viewers.

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for March 18th

The March 18th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW suffer very large declines in overall viewership, key demographic ratings, and key demographic rankings. That week’s episode was notable for airing at an almost midnight start time due to TNT’s 2022 NCAA Basketball tournament commitments.

AEW Rampage drew 398,000 viewers and a 0.13 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 57th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s declines that week was due to the very late start time for the show. Meltzer reported that due to AEW’s very large declines in their key demographic viewership, that week’s show had a median viewership age of 51 years old and likely was the oldest ever for an episode of Rampage in AEW Rampage history.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2022 NCAA Basketball game of Colgate vs. Wisconsin drew 2,287,000 viewers on TBS and the 2022 NCAA Basketball game of TCU vs. Seton Hall drew 720,000 viewers on TruTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 166,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 34.5%, Females 18-34 was down 51.6%, Males 35-49 was down 46%, and Females 35-49 was down 28.1% compared to the prior week’s show. Meltzer reported that week’s Rampage show saw a very large drop in rankings for youngest skewing sports show for the week, which its ranking was not stated, while that week’s episode of Dynamite was the youngest skewing sports show.

AEW Rampage started off with around 468,000 viewers and had around 410,000 viewers for their second quarter, around 378,000 viewers for their third quarter, and around 353,000 viewers for their main event quarter featuring Keith Lee vs. Max Caster.