NXT’s post-Heatwave numbers drop, but stay in the cable top ten

The ratings and viewership data are in for the Aug. 23 edition of NXT.

According to Showbuzz Daily, last night’s episode was watched by 678,000, and scored a .14 rating with the 18-49 year old demographic. Those are respective 6% and 18% drops from last Tuesday’s Heatwave show, but (a) that’s to be expected, and (b) those numbers are quite good.

It’s the third most viewers NXT’s had for any episode this year, beating everything but last week and another special episode, Jan. 4’s New Year’s Evil. No such lofty claims about the demo number, but last night’s was toward the upper end of NXT’s recent range. It was also good enough for the show to finish tenth in the cable originals rankings, its second straight week (and third out of the last four) in the top ten.

And not to jump start the tribalism engine... but Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics also points out this is the second straight week NXT has outperformed Rampage among 18-49 year olds.

Does WWE’s developmental show have some ratings momentum? Let us know what you think after you refresh your memory about NXT’s viewership and 18 - 49 year old demo rating since the 2.0 rebranding last September.

• Sept. 14 - 770K / .21
• Sept. 21 - 746K / .20
• Sept. 28 - 655K / .14
• Oct. 5 - 632K / .13
• Oct. 12 - 632K / .15
• Oct. 19 - 606K / .14
• Oct. 26 - 746K / .18
• Nov. 2 - 631K / .15
• Nov. 9 - 603K / .15
• Nov. 16 - 574K / .11
• Nov. 23 - 625K / .14
• Nov. 30 - 637K / .15
• Dec. 7 - 590K / .11
• Dec. 14 - 561K / .14
• Dec. 21 - 591K / .11
• Dec. 28 - 662K / .16
• Jan. 4 - 685K / .16
• Jan. 11 - 647K / .14
• Jan. 18 - 587K / .11
• Jan. 25 - 593K / .14
• Feb. 1 - 619K / .13
• Feb. 8* - 400K / .07
• Feb. 15* - 525K / .11
• Feb. 22 - 612K / .12
• Mar. 1 - 551K / .13
• Mar. 8 - 613K / .13
• Mar. 15 - 624K / .14
• Mar. 22 - 628K / .14
• Mar. 29 - 626K / .14
• April 5 - 631K / .14
• April 12 - 610K / .12
• April 19 - 569K / .12
• April 26 - 577K / .14
• May 3 - 661K / .13
• May 10 - 533K /.10
• May 17 - 601K / .14
• May 24 - 551K / .13
• May 31 - 534K / .12
• June 7 - 657K / .14
• June 14 - 612K / .12
• June 21 - 637K / .18
• June 28 - 570K / .11
• July 5 - 593K / .12
• July 12 - 582K / .14
• July 19 - 588K / .13
• July 26 - 600K / .13
• Aug. 2 - 649K / .15
• Aug. 9 - 597K / .13
• Aug. 16 - 723K / .17
• Aug. 23 - 678K / .14

For complete results and the live blog for NXT this week click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s show click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.

* Aired on SyFy