Big AEW announcement, WWE outrage don’t do much for Dynamite’s numbers

The ratings and viewership data are in for the April 5 episode of AEW Dynamite.

Per ShowBuzzDaily, last night’s show was watched by an audience of 877,000. In the 18-49 year old demographic, it scored a 0.30 rating. Both are up slightly from the week before, but AEW finished sixth in the demo this time around — down two spots from Mar. 29. Everything in front of it on the cable charts was either from ESPN, which had its usual NBA doubleheader, or Bravo, which is currently milking a cheating scandal between members on its long-running reality show Vanderpump Rules for all it can.

Bigger numbers than the previous episode aren’t a bad thing, but there’s probably some disappointment these numbers weren’t bigger. Tony Khan spent days hyping not only his latest huge announcement, but calling last night’s show one of the most important in Dynamite’s history. It was also theorized that a lot of wrestling fans would be seeking out AEW this week after the controversial end of WrestleMania 39 and reports Vince McMahon resumed creative control of the following night’s Raw. Armchair predictions called for more than these 5-7% week-to-week bumps.

More promising were the numbers for the second episode of AEW: All Access, the new reality show which airs after Dynamite. It’s 339,000 viewers were also only slightly better than the premiere, and the .11 demo rating was unchanged. But that happened with less promotion — so even a negligible increase in audience size is a good sign.

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

• Apr. 6: 989,000 / .38
• Apr. 13: 977,000 / .37
• Apr. 20: 930,000 / .37
• Apr. 27: 921,000 / .33
• May 4: 833,000 / .32
• May 11: 840,000 / .33
• May 18: 922,000 / .33
• May 25: 929,000 / .35
• June 1: 969,000 / .40
• June 8: 939,000 / .34
• June 15: 761,000 / .28
• June 22: 878,000 / .31
• June 29: 1,023,000 / .36
• July 6: 979,000 / .36
• July 13: 942,000 / .32
• July 20: 910,000 / .32
• July 27: 976,000 / .33
• Aug. 3: 938,000 / .32
• Aug. 10: 972,000 / .33
• Aug. 17: 957,000 / .30
• Aug. 24: 1,049,000 / .34
• Aug. 31: 1,020,000 / .35
• Sept. 7: 1,035,000 / .38
• Sept. 14: 1,175,000 / .39
• Sept. 21: 1,039,000 / .35
• Sept. 28: 990,000 / .34
• Oct. 5: 1,038,000 / .33
• Oct. 12: 983,000 / .32
• Oct. 18: 752,000 / .26
• Oct. 26: 997,000 / .32
• Nov. 2: 911,000 / .29
• Nov. 9: 930,000 / .32
• Nov. 16: 818,000 / .28
• Nov. 23: 880,000 / .32
• Nov. 30: 870,000 / .26
• Dec. 7: 840,000 / .29
• Dec. 14: 950,000 / .33
• Dec. 21: 957,000 / .30
• Dec. 28: 876,000 / .28
• Jan. 4, 2023: 864,000 / .26
• Jan. 11: 967,000 / .33
• Jan. 18: 969,000 / .31
• Jan. 25: 1,003,000 / .32
• Feb. 1: 901,000 / .31
• Feb. 8: 899,000 / .30
• Feb. 15: 824,000 / .27
• Feb. 22: 1,028,000 / .35
• Mar. 1: 833,000 / .27
• Mar. 8: 858,000 / .29
• Mar. 15: 852,000 / .27
• Mar. 22: 954,000 / .33
• Mar. 29: 833,000 / .28
• Apr. 5: 877,000 / .30

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.