More on AEW & NXT Week 161 Viewership – Nov. 8 & 9, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 65 – Nov. 4, 2022

Nov 12, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for November 8th

The November 8th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a large decline in key demographic rankings and a slight decline in overall viewership but also gained a small increase in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 664,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 40th place.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for NXT’s mixed results this week was due to very stiff competition from news coverage of the 2022 United States Elections, which took took 32 out of the Top 35 ranked shows that night. Another reason reportedly was due to the large decline in their younger male key demographic viewership group, which was down 7% compared to last week’s show, and NXT’s Over 50 viewership group being lower in terms of actual viewers but not enough of a decline to cause a ratings change since it generated a 0.39, which was the same as last week’s show. This reportedly offset the gains NXT had in their other demographic viewership groups, which were up 16.7% in Teenagers, 9.1% in younger demographic viewership, and 20% in older key demographic viewership groups compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, FNC Democracy Election 22 drew 7,274,000 viewers and 7,805,000 viewers on FOX News, Election Night in America drew 2,513,000 viewers and 2,683,000 viewers on CNN, Decision 2022 drew 3,155,000 viewers and 3,296,000 viewers on MSNBC, the NHL game of Edmonton Oilers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning drew 374,000 viewers on TNT, the College Football game of Ball State vs. Toledo drew 482,000 viewers on ESPN, Little People, Big World drew 1,193,000 viewers on TLC, Below Deck Adventure drew 387,000 viewers on Bravo, and Deadliest Catch Viking drew 637,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 195,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 136,000 male viewers and 59,000 female viewers for a split of 69.7% in favor of males

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 10.1% in overall viewership and up 1.6% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 50% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for November 9th

The November 9th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a large increase in overall viewership and a small increase in key demographic ratings but also suffered a small decline in key demographic ratings.

AEW drew 930,000 viewers and a 0.32 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s increases this week was due to the large increases in their younger male key demographic viewership and older female key demographic viewership groups, which were up 23.6% and 13.5% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the stiff competition from the 2022 CMA Awards show on ABC that night and the decline in their Over 50 viewership group, which was down 2.4% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2022 CMA Awards drew 7,574,000 viewers on ABC, the NBA game of New York Knicks vs. Brooklyn Nets drew 1,233,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals drew 408,000 viewers on TNT, Challenge: Ride or Die drew 471,000 viewers on MTV, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 427,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 409,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 23.9%, Females 18-34 was down 5.6%, Males 35-49 was up 1.3%, and Females 35-49 was up 13.5%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 274,000 male viewers and 135,000 female viewers for a split of 66.5% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, one out of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,078,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 854,000 viewers for their seventh quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 1.8% in overall viewership but down 8.4% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 6.5% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 1,078,000 overall viewers and 482,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the FTR & The Acclaimed vs. Swerve In Our Glory & The Gunns 8-Man Tag Team match)
2Q – 949,000 overall viewers and 448,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the FTR & Acclaimed vs. Swerve In Our Glory & Gunns match, MJF video promo segment, and the Stokely Hathaway video promo segment)
3Q – 941,000 overall viewers and 449,000 key demo viewers (Eddie Kingston vs. Ethan Page match, the Dark Order, RUSH, & Jose The Assistant backstage segment, and the TNT Championship match of Ari Daivari vs. Wardlow (c))
4Q – 955,000 overall viewers and 450,000 key demo viewers (TNT Championship post-match angle with Wardlow, Powerhouse Hobbs, & Samoa Joe, Jade Cargill & The Baddies backstage segment, and the Saraya & Britt Baker promo segment)
5Q – 912,000 overall viewers and 384,000 key demo viewers (Jay Lethal vs. Trent Barreta and post-match with Sonjay Dutt & Jeff Jarrett)
6Q – 888,000 overall viewers and 384,000 key demo viewers (Jungle Boy promo video, Jon Moxley promo segment, and The Elite video package)
7Q – 854,000 overall viewers and 358,000 key demo viewers (Jamie Hayter vs. Skye Blue match, the Brian Cage & Dante Martin video package, the Lance Archer & Ricky Starks backstage segment, and the start of the Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara match)
8Q – 861,000 overall viewers and 344,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Danielson vs. Guevara match)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for November 4th

The November 4th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a large increase in overall viewership and a small increase in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

AEW Rampage drew 455,000 viewers and a 0.14 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 20th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for AEW’s increases that week was due to the large increases in their younger key demographic viewership and female key demographic viewership groups, which were up 62.5% and 34.7% respectively compared to the prior week’s show. This reportedly offset the decline from their older key demographic viewership group, which was down 6.3% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Milwaukee Bucks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves drew 1,117,000 viewers on ESPN, the College football game of Oregon State vs. Washington drew 1,125,000 viewers on ESPN2, Gold Rush: White Water drew 718,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, On Patrol Live drew 707,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 759,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 188,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 123,000 male viewers and 66,000 female viewers for a split of 65.1% in favor of males. Meltzer also reported that week’s Rampage show was not ranked in the Top 10 youngest skewing sports show for the week while that week’s Dynamite was the twelfth youngest skewing sports show, behind one NFL game, five NBA games, three soccer games, and three NHL games.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 24% in overall viewership and down 35.8% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was even compared to the same week last year.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 487,000 overall viewers and 204,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the AEW All-Atlantic Championship match of Katsuyori Shibata vs. Orange Cassidy (c))
2Q – 456,000 overall viewers and 191,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the All-Atlantic Championship match, the Toni Storm backstage segment, the Blackpool Combat Club backstage segment, and the bulk of the Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Madison Rayne & Skye Blue match)
3Q – 457,000 overall viewers and 196,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Baker & Hayter vs. Rayne & Blue match, the Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara backstage segment, and the Ricky Starks promo segment)
4Q – 419,000 overall viewers and 162,000 key demo viewers (WarJoe vs. Gates of Agony match and post-match with Powerhouse Hobbs)