More on AEW & NXT Week 162 Viewership – Nov. 15 & 16, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 66 – Nov. 11, 2022

Nov 19, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for November 15th

The November 15th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a slight decline in overall viewership but gained a small increase in key demographic ratings and a large increase in key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 663,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 26th 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 increases this week was due to the large gains from their female key demographic viewership and older key demographic viewership groups, which were up 62.7% and 22.2% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large declines in NXT’s male key demographic viewership and Over 50 demographic viewership groups, which were down 9.6% and 7.7% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College basketball game of Kentucky vs. Michigan State drew 2,026,000 viewers on ESPN, the NBA game of Memphis Grizzles vs. New Orleans Pelicans drew 1,041,000 viewers on TNT, the NBA game of Brooklyn Nets vs. Sacramento Kings drew 888,000 viewers on TNT, the College football game of Ohio vs. Ball State drew 250,000 viewers on ESPN2, Little People, Big World drew 1,249,000 viewers on TLC, Below Deck Adventure drew 527,000 viewers on Bravo, Deadliest Catch Viking drew 693,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and Curse of Oak Island drew 2,056,000 viewers on History Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 221,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 123,000 male viewers and 96,000 female viewers for a split of 53.2% in favor of males. Meltzer reported that this week’s female viewership skew was one of the highest for a WWE show in a long time.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 15.5% in overall viewership and up 54.5% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 71.4% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for November 16th

The November 16th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW suffer a very large decline in overall viewership and a small decline in key demographic ratings but also gained a slight increase in key demographic rankings.

AEW drew 818,000 viewers and a 0.28 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 4th place.

Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for AEW’s declines this week was due to a combination of a stronger than usual sports competition viewership from the NBA (up 28% compared to last week), a weaker than usual lead-in programming viewership from Big Bang Theory (down 19% compared to last week), and a lower than usual first quarter hour viewership. Another reason reportedly was stiff competition from MTV’s The Challenge show that managed to top AEW in overall female key demographic viewership for the first time ever. This reportedly offset the small gains AEW had from their older key demographic viewership group, which was up 2.5% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks drew 1,491,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago Blackhawks drew 264,000 viewers on TNT, Challenge: Ride or Die drew 496,000 viewers on MTV, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 543,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 371,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 19.3%, Females 18-34 was down 23.5%, Males 35-49 was up 0.6%, and Females 35-49 was up 6%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 243,000 male viewers and 128,000 female viewers for a split of 65.5% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, none of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 916,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 755,000 viewers for their seventh quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 16.9% in overall viewership and down 22.7% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 14.8% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 916,000 overall viewers and 404,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara match)
2Q – 854,000 overall viewers and 403,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Danielson & Castagnoli vs. Jericho & Guevara match and the Moxley vs. MJF AEW World Championship video package)
3Q – 829,000 overall viewers and 387,000 key demo viewers (The Acclaimed’s music video segment and the Anthony Bowens vs. Swerve Strickland match)
4Q – 792,000 overall viewers and 378,000 key demo viewers (Cargill vs. Rose TBS Championship video package, Samoa Joe promo segment with Powerhouse Hobbs and brawl with Wardlow, and Britt Baker’s backstage promo segment)
5Q – 801,000 overall viewers and 365,000 key demo viewers (AEW World Trios Championship match of AR Fox & Top Flight vs. Death Triangle (c))
6Q – 790,000 overall viewers and 352,000 key demo viewers (Ricky Starks promo segment, AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament match of Ethan Page vs. Bandido, Jungle Boy vs. Luchasaurus video package, and the Sayara backstage segment)
7Q – 755,000 overall viewers and 321,000 key demo viewers (AEW Interim Women’s Championship Eliminator match of Anna Jay A.S. vs, Toni Storm and post-match angle with Jamie Hayter)
8Q – 809,000 overall viewers and 358,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley promo and brawl with The Firm & MJF and the MJF and Moxley promo segment)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for November 11th

The November 11th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a slight increase in overall viewership but suffered a large decline in key demographic rankings and a small decline in key demographic ratings.

AEW Rampage drew 456,000 viewers and a 0.11 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 55th place.

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

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s decline that week was due to the large decline from their overall key demographic viewership group, which was down 21.8% compared to the prior week’s show. Meltzer reported that week’s key demographic ranking of 55th place was just the second time ever that a Rampage show failed to rank in the Top 50 shows for the night in Rampage series history.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzles drew 913,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Eastern Michigan vs, Michigan drew 229,000 viewers on ESPNU, the College football game of East Carolina vs. Cincinnati drew 803,000 viewers on ESPN2, Gold Rush: White Water drew 960,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and On Patrol Live drew 775,000 viewers on REELZ Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 147,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that week’s Rampage show did not rank in the Top 10 youngest skewing sports show for the week while that week’s Dynamite was the sixth youngest skewing sports show, behind three NBA games and two soccer games.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 13.1% in overall viewership and down 44.1% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 513,000 overall viewers and 179,000 key demo viewers (Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, & Jungle Boy promo and brawl segment, the Death Triangle backstage segment, and the bulk of the AEW World Championship Eliminator tournament match of Brian Cage vs. Dante Martin)
2Q – 461,000 overall viewers and 147,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Cage vs. Martin match, the Lee Moriarty & Stokely Hathaway backstage segment, the House of Black video segment, and the start of the AEW World Championship Eliminator tournament match of RUSH vs. Bandido)
3Q – 441,000 overall viewers and 132,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the RUSH vs. Bandido match, Jake Hager & Claudio Castagnoli backstage segment, and the Nyla Rose vs. Kayla Sparks match and post-match brawl with Jade Cargill, The Baddies, & Marina Shafir)
4Q – 411,000 overall viewers and 129,000 key demo viewers (AEW All-Atlantic Championship match of Lee Johnson vs. Orange Cassidy (c))