AEW surges while NXT’s viewers crash to an all-time low

Lots of people are staying home and watching television, but you wouldn’t know it from NXT’s ratings and viewership data this week (Mar. 18).

Per Showbuzz Daily, AEW netted 932,000 viewers for a .35 rating point in the 18-49 demographic. NXT checked in with 542,000 viewers for a .16 rating point in the same 18-49 demo.

For AEW, this is an increase of about 166,000 viewers from the prior week, with a big increase from last week’s 0.26 demo rating. For NXT, viewership decreased by about 155,000 viewers from the prior week, and the demo rating was significantly down from last week’s 0.21.

AEW rose from 25th to 20th place in the demo rating for the night, while NXT moved down from 42nd place to 81st place. The news shows covering the coronavirus pandemic are dominating the top 20, which is why even AEW barely cracked the top 20 with their impressive results.

Considering how NXT’s decrease in viewers was nearly identical to AEW’s increase, and that NXT largely ran a clip show with its modified format, one logical conclusion is that a whole bunch of regular NXT viewers decided to check out what AEW had to offer instead last night.

AEW essentially returned to its ratings and viewership level from two weeks ago, whereas NXT reached its all-time low number in viewership, and the only time they had a lower demo rating was on Jan. 1, earlier this year.

Overall, AEW had 390,000 more viewers than NXT and more than doubled the demo rating.

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

• Oct. 2: 1.4 million / .68
• Oct. 9: 1.02 million / .46 on TNT, plus 122K from Tru TV simulcast for total viewership of approximately 1.14 million
• Oct. 16: 1.01 million / .44
• Oct 24: 963,000 / .45
• Oct 30: 759,000 / .34
• Nov. 6: 822,000 / .35
• Nov. 13: 957,000 / .43
• Nov. 20: 893,000 / .39
• Nov. 27: 663,000 / .26
• Dec. 4: 851,000 / .32
• Dec. 11: 778,000 / .28
• Dec. 18: 683,000 / .25
• Dec. 25: N/A
• Jan. 1: 967,000 / .36
• Jan. 8: 947,000 / .36
• Jan. 15: 940,000 / .38
• Jan. 22: 871,000 / .35
• Jan. 29: 828,000 / .34
• Feb. 5: 928,000 / .36
• Feb. 12: 817,000 / .30
• Feb. 19: 893,000 / .31
• Feb. 26: 865,000 / .30
• Mar. 4: 906,000 / .35
• Mar. 11: 766,000 / .26
• Mar. 18: 932,000 / .35

Here’s a breakdown of NXT’s audience and ratings share of the same demographic:

• Sept. 18 (one hour on USA): 1.18 million / .56
• Sept. 25 (one hour on USA): 1.01 million / .40
• Oct. 2: 891,000 / .32
• Oct. 9: 790,000 / .22
• Oct. 16: 712,000 / .20
• Oct. 24: 698,000 / .21
• Oct 30: 580,000 / .18
• Nov. 6: 813,000 / .30
• Nov. 13: 750,000 / .25
• Nov. 20: 916,000 / .30
• Nov. 27: 810,000 / .24
• Dec. 4: 845,000 / .29
• Dec. 11: 778,000 / .24
• Dec. 18: 795,000 / .27
• Dec. 25: 831,000 / .22
• Jan. 1: 548,000 / .15
• Jan. 8: 721,000 / .19
• Jan. 15: 700,000 / .21
• Jan. 22: 769,000 / .24
• Jan. 29: 712,000 / .22
• Feb. 5: 770,000 / .22
• Feb. 12: 757,000 / .24
• Feb. 19: 794,000 / .25
• Feb. 26: 717,000 / .23
• Mar. 4: 718,000 / .23
• Mar. 11: 697,000 / .21
• Mar. 18: 542,000 / .16

Total viewership for Wednesday night checked in at 1,474,000 pro wrestling fans.

What do you make of these results, Cagesiders?

Check out both our Dynamite live blog, review & video highlights, and our NXT live blog & review, in case you missed any of the Wednesday Night War’s latest chapter.