More on AEW & NXT Week 167 Viewership – Dec. 20 & 21, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 70 – Dec. 16, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for December 20th

The December 20th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a large increase in overall viewership but also suffered a large decline in key demographic ranking and a small decline in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 705,000 viewers and a 0.14 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 21st 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 the large gains from their Teenagers and Over 50 demographic viewership groups, which were up 12.5% and 16.7% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly mostly offset the very large decline from NXT’s older key demographic viewership group, which was down 26.3% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the large decline from NXT’s younger key demographic viewership group, which was down 6.7% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College football Boca Raton 2022 Bowl game of Liberty vs. Toledo drew 1,468,000 viewers on ESPN, the NBA game of Memphis Grizzles vs. Denver Nuggets drew 1,015,000 viewers on TNT, the NBA game of Golden State Warriors vs. New York Knicks drew 1,166,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Florida vs. Oklahoma drew 226,000 viewers on ESPN2, Little People, Big World drew 1,229,000 viewers on TLC, Bering Sea Gold drew 682,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and Curse of Oak Island drew 2,591,000 viewers on History Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 175,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 123,000 male viewers and 52,000 female viewers for a split of 70.3% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 19.3% in overall viewership and up 18.2% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 100% compared to the same week last year.


More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for December 21st

The December 21st episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a slight increase in overall viewership but also suffered a small decline in key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for being the Holiday Bash 2022 special.

AEW drew 957,000 viewers and a 0.30 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 mixed results was due to the gains from their female key demographic viewership, younger key demographic viewership, and Over 50 demographic viewership groups, which were up 19.2%, 4.1%, and 4.9% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly mostly offset the large declines from AEW’s older male key demographic viewership and older key demographic viewership groups, which were down 20.2% and 15.1% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College football New Orleans Bowl 2022 game of Western Kentucky vs. Southern Alabama drew 1,196,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Michigan vs. North Carolina drew 1,317,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of New Jersey Devils vs. Florida Panthers drew 267,000 viewers on TNT, the NHL game of Edmonton Oilers vs. Dallas Stars drew 266,000 viewers on TNT, Challenge: Ride or Dies drew 663,000 viewers on MTV, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 673,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 396,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 2.6%, Females 18-34 was up 19.2%, Males 35-49 was down 20.2%, and Females 35-49 was down 2.6%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 260,000 male viewers and 136,000 female viewers for a split of 65.7% in favor of males.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, two of AEW’s eight quarters drew one million or more viewers. AEW’s peak quarter hour viewership was at 1,133,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 869,000 viewers for their eighth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 6.2% in overall viewership and down 17.5% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was up 39.4% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

  • 1Q – 1,133,000 overall viewers and 460,000 key demo viewers (Ricky Starks & JAS promo segment and brawl with Jake Hager & Action Andretti)
  • 2Q – 1,008,000 overall viewers and 405,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the AEW World Trios Championship Best of Seven series Match 5 No DQ match of The Elite vs Death Triangle)
  • 3Q – 975,000 overall viewers and 410,000 key demo viewers (Ending of The Elite vs. Death Triangle match, MJF video promo segment, JAS & Andretti backstage segment, and the bulk of the Bryan Dainelson, Ethan Page, & Stokely Hathaway promo segment)
  • 4Q – 950,000 overall viewers and 414,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Danielson, Page, & Hathaway segment, Jon Moxley backstage promo segment, Samoa Joe video promo segment, and the HOOK vs. Exodus Prime and post-match angle with Jack Perry & The Firm)
  • 5Q – 952,000 overall viewers and 405,000 key demo viewers (Moxley vs. Dante Martin match, the Shida vs. Hayter match hype video, and the Powerhouse Hobbs video promo segment)
  • 6Q – 895,000 overall viewers and 385,000 key demo viewers (FTR vs. The Gunns match, Sonjay Dutt video segment, and the start of the Keith Lee, Rick Ross, & Swerve Strickland segment)
  • 7Q – 873,000 overall viewers and 365,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Lee, Ross, & Strickland segment and brawl with Parker Boudreaux and the mystery man, the Orange Cassidy & Best Friends backstage promo segment, and the Hangman Adam Page & Dark Order backstage promo segment)
  • 8Q – 869,000 overall viewers and 328,000 key demo viewers (AEW Women’s World Championship match of Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter (c))
  • Overrun (1 minute) – 948,000 overall viewers and 358,000 key demo viewers (AEW Women’s World Championship post-match brawl with Britt Baker, Rebel, Toni Storm, & Saraya)

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for December 16th

The December 16th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a small increase in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings and a slight increase in overall viewership.

AEW Rampage drew 464,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 15th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s gains that week was due to the large gains from their younger and older key demographic viewership groups, which were up 16.7% and 37% respectively compared to the prior week’s show. This offset the large decline from their Over 50 demographic viewership group, which was down 12.5% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the College football Cure Bowl 2022 game of UTSA vs. Troy drew 1,459,000 viewers on ESPN, the NBA game of Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers drew 1,613,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Creighton vs. Marquette drew 208,000 viewers on FS1, Gold Rush: White Water drew 1,095,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, On Patrol Live drew 890,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, and 90 Day Fiance First Look drew 697,000 viewers on TLC.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 197,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 11.1%, Females 18-34 was up 26.7%, Males 35-49 was up 38.1%, and Females 35-49 was up 35.6%. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 117,000 male viewers and 80,000 female viewers for a split of 59.4% in favor of males. Meltzer also 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 9th youngest, behind one NFL games, four World Cup 2022 games, and three NBA games.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 18.7% in overall viewership and down 35.6% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 53.3% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Rampage quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

  • 1Q – 468,000 overall viewers and 227,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara match)
  • 2Q – 483,000 overall viewers and 204,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Moxley vs. Guevara match and post-match brawl with Hangman Adam Page, the Saraya video promo segment, FTR promo segment, the Jade Cargill & The Baddies backstage segment, and the start of the Britt Baker vs. Skye Blue match)
  • 3Q – 462,000 overall viewers and 181,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the Baker vs. Blue match and post-match brawl with Hikaru Shida, Rebel, & Jamie Hayter, the Preston Vance backstage segment, the Wardlow vs Exodus Primo match & post-match promo with Samoa Joe)
  • 4Q – 443,000 overall viewers and 175,000 key demo viewers (Orange Cassidy, Dustin Rhodes & Friends vs.The Butcher, The Blade, Trent Seven, & Kip Sabian match)