More on AEW & NXT Week 166 Viewership – Dec. 13 & 14, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 69 – Dec. 9, 2022

Dec 17, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for December 13th

The December 13th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a very large increase in overall viewership, a large increase in key demographic rankings, and a small increase in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 666,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 13th 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 increases in all of their demographic groups, which was up 60% in Teenagers, up 50% in younger key demographic viewership, up 18.8% in older key demographic viewership, and up 44% in Over 50 viewership groups compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Golden State Warriors vs. Milwaukee Bucks drew 1,509,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Memphis vs. Alabama drew 474,000 viewers on ESPN2, the College basketball game of Citadel vs. North Carolina drew 337,000 viewers on ESPN2, Little People, Big World drew 1,225,000 viewers on TLC, Below Deck Adventure drew 586,000 viewers on Bravo, and Curse of Oak Island drew 2,404,000 viewers on History Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 228,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 156,000 male viewers and 72,000 female viewers for a split of 66.7% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 18.7% in overall viewership and up 29.5% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 66.7% compared to the same week last year.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for December 14th

The December 14th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a very large increase in overall viewership and a small increase in key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for being the Winter Is Coming 2022 special.

AEW drew 950,000 viewers and a 0.33 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 3rd 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 gains from their male key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which were up 15% and 17% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls drew 1,241,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Detroit Red Wings vs. Minnesota Wold drew 259,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Western Kentucky vs. Louisville drew 237,000 viewers on ESPN2, the College basketball game of Ohio vs. Florida drew 178,000 viewers on ESPN2, Challenge: Ride or Dies drew 561,000 viewers on MTV, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 614,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 428,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 17%, Females 18-34 was equal, Males 35-49 was up 13.7%, and Females 35-49 was up 11.8%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 300,000 male viewers and 128,000 female viewers for a split of 70.1% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, one of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,044,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 903,000 viewers for their sixth quarter.

In an interesting note, Meltzer reported that AEW’s show this week managed to top Monday’s WWE RAW show in both Male Teenagers and Males 18-34 viewership.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 0.4% in overall viewership and up 7.5% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was up 26.1% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 1,044,000 overall viewers and 457,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the AEW World Trios Championship Best of Seven series Match 4 of The Elite vs Death Triangle)
2Q – 997,000 overall viewers and 441,000 key demo viewers (Ending of The Elite vs. Death Triangle match and Kenny Omega post-match promo and the MJF promo segment)
3Q – 968,000 overall viewers and 433,000 key demo viewers (The Acclaimed, Jeff Jarrett Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, & Satnam Singh brawl segment, the JAS backstage segment, and the Jack Perry vs. Brian Cage match)
4Q – 926,000 overall viewers and 416,000 key demo viewers (Perry post-match promo & brawl segment with The Firm & HOOK, the Blackpool Combat Club backstage segment, Swerve Strickland video promo segment, and the House of Black vs. The Factory match)
5Q – 981,000 overall viewers and 450,000 key demo viewers (Britt Baker backstage segment and the Chris Jericho vs. Action Andretti match)
6Q – 903,000 overall viewers and 406,000 key demo viewers (Rick Starks backstage segment and the Tay Melo vs. Ruby Soho match)
7Q – 913,000 overall viewers and 410,000 key demo viewers (Melo vs. Soho post-match brawl with Anna Jay, the Hangman Page backstage segment, the Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Danhausen, & Dustin Rhodes backstage segment, and the start of the Winner Takes All AEW World Championship & Dynamite Diamond Ring match of Starks vs. MJF (c))
8Q – 891,000 overall viewers and 411,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Winner Takes All AEW World Championship & Dynamite Diamond Ring match)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for December 9th

The December 9th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a very large increase in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a small increase in key demographic ratings.

AEW Rampage drew 457,000 viewers and a 0.11 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 reason for AEW’s increases that week was due to the large increase from their key demographic viewership group, which was up 48.5% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Milwaukee Bucks vs. Dallas Mavericks drew 1,504,000 viewers on ESPN, the NBA game of Los Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers drew 1,376,000 viewers on ESPN, Gold Rush: White Water drew 1,009,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, On Patrol Live drew 793,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 573,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 150,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 90,000 male viewers and 60,000 female viewers for a split of 60% in favor of males. 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 show was the 12th youngest, behind two NFL games, one College football game, six NBA games, and three College basketball games.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 9.1% in overall viewership and down 36.7% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 28.8% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

1Q – 502,000 overall viewers and 174,000 key demo viewers (Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita match)
2Q – 442,000 overall viewers and 146,000 key demo viewers (Post-match Moxley & Hangman Page brawl segment, the Powerhouse Hobbs video promo segment, the Stokely Hathaway video promo segment, and the Regina Di WAVE Championship match of The Bunny vs. Hikaru Shida (c))
3Q – 442,000 overall viewers and 138,000 key demo viewers (Big Bill & Lee Moriarty vs. Izzy James & Clayton Bloodstone match, the FTR backstage segment, and the Ortiz & Eddie Kingston backstage segment)
4Q – 443,000 overall viewers and 140,000 key demo viewers (AEW All-Atlantic Championship match of Trent Seven vs. Orange Cassidy (c))