More on AEW Dynamite Week 182 Viewership – Apr. 5, 2023, Rampage Week 85 – Mar. 31, 2023

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for April 5th

The April 5th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a small increase in overall viewership and a slight increase in key demographic ratings but also suffered a slight decline in key demographic rankings.

AEW drew 877,000 viewers and a 0.30 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s gains this week was due to the large gains from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 8.8% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the small gain from their Over 50 viewership group, which was up 2.7% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large decline from their older female key demographic viewership group, which was down 15.9% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Chicago Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks drew 1,098,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers drew 570,000 viewers on TNT, the MLB game of Toronto Blue Jays vs. Kansas City Royals drew 170,000 viewers on MLB Network, Vanderpump Rules drew 1,139,000 viewers on Bravo, and Moonshiners drew 700,000 viewers on Discovery Channel.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 388,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 had 99,000 viewers (up 3.2%), Females 18-34 had 61,000 viewers (up 19.6%), Males 35-49 had 170,000 viewers (up 10.4%), and Females 35-49 had 58,000 viewers (down 15.9%). Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 269,000 male viewers and 119,000 female viewers for a split of 69.3% 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 996,000 viewers for their first quarter while their quarter low was at 784,000 viewers for their eighth quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 11.3% in overall viewership and down 21.8% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 6.4% compared to the same week last year.

AEW Dynamite quarter hour viewership breakdowns were:

  • 1Q – 996,000 overall viewers and 425,000 key demo viewers (Ricky Starks, Juice Robinson, & Jay White brawl segment, the Adam Cole video segment, and the Chris Jericho & Keith Lee backstage segment)
  • 2Q – 897,000 overall viewers and 405,000 key demo viewers (AEW World Trios Championship match of Best Friends vs. House of Black (c), the Christian Cage & Luchasaurus video segment, and the start of the AEW Women’s World Championship match of Riho vs. Jamie Hayter (c))
  • 3Q – 892,000 overall viewers and 373,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the AEW Women’s World Championship match, the Outcasts backstage interview segment, and Jericho Appreciation Society, The Acclaimed, & Billy Gunn promo segment)
  • 4Q – 866,000 overall viewers and 388,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the MJF “MJF Day” musical & promo segment)
  • 5Q – 921,000 overall viewers and 413,000 key demo viewers (Ending of the MJF Day segment with MJF & Jack Perry brawl and the Sammy Guevara vs. Komander match)
  • 6Q – 860,000 overall viewers and 386,000 key demo viewers (Guevara’s post-match promo, the FTW Championship match of Ethan Page vs. HOOK (c), the AEW All In PPV announcement segment, and the start of the Blackpool Combat Club vs. Aaron Rourke & Alvin Alvarez & Brother Greatness Trios match)
  • 7Q – 800,000 overall viewers and 350,000 key demo viewers (Bulk of the BCC vs. Rourke, Alvarez, & Brother Greatness Trios match and the Bryan Danielson post-match promo & brawl with Hangman Adam Page & BCC)
  • 8Q – 784,000 overall viewers and 366,000 key demo viewers (AEW World Tag Team Championship Titles vs. Careers match of FTR vs. The Gunns (c))

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for March 31st

The March 31st episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW suffer a large decline in key demographic rankings and a small decline in overall viewership.

AEW drew 340,000 viewers and a 0.10 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 43rd 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 AEW’s declines that week was due to the stiffer than usual sports competition from the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and wrestling competition from that night’s WrestleMania 39 weekend events, primarily Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor 2023 event. Meltzer reported that AEW’s rating of 0.02 for their Teenagers key demographic viewership group was the lowest ever for a Rampage show in Rampage series history. Meltzer also reported that AEW’s overall viewership of 340,000 was the lowest ever for a Rampage show in its normal timeslot in Rampage history.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves drew 385,000 viewers on NBA TV, the NBA game of Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns drew 299,000 viewers on NBA TV, the MLB simulcast games of Colorado vs. San Diego and Cleveland vs. Seattle drew 177,000 viewers on MLB TV, the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game of Iowa vs. South Carolina drew 5,175,00 viewers on ESPN, On Patrol Live drew 776,000 viewers on REELZ Channel, 90 Day Other Way drew 518,000 viewers, and Love After Lockup drew 501,000 viewers on WETV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 130,000 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 eighteenth youngest skewed sports show, behind three NBA games, two high school basketball games on ESPN, nine soccer games, two NHL games, and one Professional Fighters League event.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was down 25.4% in overall viewership and down 32.6% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that AEW’s 18-34 viewership was down 37.5% compared to the same week last year.