AEW’s debut on TBS is a huge ratings success

The ratings and viewership data are in for last night’s (Jan. 5) episode of AEW Dynamite.

Per ShowBuzzDaily, Dynamite netted 1,010,000 viewers for a 0.43 rating point in the 18-49 year old demographic. The show finished 2nd place in the demo rating on cable for the night.

The demo rating for Dynamite’s debut on TBS was up big from last week’s 0.37. Yesterday’s episode included three title matches and some WWE jabs in an angle between CM Punk and MJF.

In last week’s ratings post I pulled a couple round numbers out of my ass and said it was reasonable for AEW to hope for an audience of one million viewers and a demo rating of 0.40 this week. They cleared both of those imaginary bars. This was Dynamite’s best demo rating since the end of September.

Dynamite’s ratings have suffered since mid-October in part because the show was not airing in prime time in certain time zones due to the NHL schedule. That problem is now gone with the move to TBS, and the ratings immediately increased. It’s funny how that works, huh?

We’ll see if they can keep the numbers at this level or higher as they look to build a foothold on the TBS network in the coming months.

Here’s a breakdown of AEW viewership and rating in the 18-49 demo over the last year:

• Jan. 6, 2021: 662,000 / .25
• Jan. 13: 762,000 / .30
• Jan. 20: 854,000 / .36
• Jan. 27: 734,000 / .29
• Feb. 3: 844,000 / .32
• Feb. 10: 741,000 / .29
• Feb. 17: 747,000 / .31
• Feb. 24: 831,000 / .35
• Mar. 3: 934,000 / .33
• Mar. 10: 743,000 / .32
• Mar. 17: 768,000 / .28
• Mar. 24: 757,000 / .30
• Mar. 31: 700,000 / .26
• Apr. 7: 688,000 / .28
• Apr. 14: 1,219,000 / .44
• Apr. 21: 1,104,000 / .37
• Apr. 28: 889,000 / .33
• May 5: 1,090,000 / .42
• May 12: 936,000 / .31
• May 19: 821,000 / .28
• May 28: 526,000 / .20
• June 4: 462,000 / .19
• June 11: 487,000 / .19
• June 18: 551,000 / .20
• June 26: 649,000 / .21
• June 30: 883,000 / .35
• July 7: 871,000 / .33
• July 14: 1,025,000 / .40
• July 21: 1,148,000 / .44
• July 28: 1,108,000 / .45
• Aug. 4: 1,102,000 / .46
• Aug. 11: 979,000 / .35
• Aug. 18: 975,000 / .35
• Aug. 25: 1,172,000 / .48
• Sept. 1: 1,047,000 / .37
• Sept. 8: 1,319,000 / .52
• Sept. 15: 1,175,000 / .44
• Sept. 22: 1,273,000 / .48
• Sept. 29: 1,152,000 / .45
• Oct. 6: 1,053,000 / .37
• Oct. 16: 727,000 / .28
• Oct. 23: 575,000 / .22
• Oct. 27: 941,000 / .40
• Nov. 3: 878,000 / .33
• Nov. 10: 913,000 / .35
• Nov. 17: 984,000 / .37
• Nov. 24: 898,000 / .31
• Dec. 1: 861,000 / .31
• Dec. 8: 872,000 / .33
• Dec. 15: 948,000 / .31
• Dec. 22: 1,020,000 / .37
• Dec. 29: 975,000 / .37
• Jan. 5, 2022: 1,010,000 / .43

For complete results and this week’s Dynamite live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.