NXT had some of its worst numbers in a while against amazing WBC final

The ratings and viewership data are in for this week’s (Mar. 21) episode of WWE NXT.

According to Showbuzz Daily, last night’s show was watched by 550,000 viewers, with a 0.12 rating among 18-49 year olds. NXT finished in 29th place among cable originals on the night. All were down from last week. It’s the lowest rating the show’s done since Feb. 7, and its smallest overall audience since Dec. 6 of last year.

What happened? Shohei Ohtani & the fellas from Japan took on the Mike Trout-led American squad in the finals of the World Baseball Classic and delivered a game befitting the event’s name, that’s what.

Baseball’s take on the World Cup has been a huge attendance & ratings success in its sixth go round, and while it’s not doing the TV numbers in America that it’s done in Asia and Latin America, 4.48 million people tuned into FS1 last night for a 3-2 thriller that came down to two of the best in the game going head-to-head. Ohtani’s game-sealing strikeout of Trout was the capper on what was easily the number one program on all of television, scoring a 1.46 in the demo.

Don’t believe me it was a big deal? Ask former NXT Women’s champion IYO SKY.

The WBC final did the kind of numbers we’re not used to seeing anything get on Tuesday nights, and was something that had to have some impact on NXT’s performance. We’ll see how WWE’s developmental show can bounce back next week, with a pre-taped show that will put the final touches on the build for Stand & Deliver — and without competition from the diamond’s best.

Here’s NXT’s audience and ratings share of the 18-49 demographic over the past year:

• 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
• Aug. 30 - 676K / .15
• Sept. 6 - 684K / .16
• Sept. 13 - 728K / .15
• Sept. 20 - 688K / .15
• Sept. 27 - 660K / .16
• Oct. 4 - 625K / .13
• Oct. 11 - 737K / .15
• Oct. 18 - 676K / .18
• Oct. 25 - 716K / .15
• Nov. 1 - 670K / .13
• Nov. 8 - 664K / .15
• Nov. 15 - 663K / .17
• Nov. 22 - 624K / .12
• Nov. 29 - 644K / .13
• Dec. 6 - 534K / .13
• Dec. 13 - 666K / .17
• Dec. 20 - 705K / .15
• Dec. 27 - 588K / .12
• Jan. 3 - 653K / .16
• Jan. 10 - 700K / .15
• Jan. 17 - 600K / .14
• Jan. 24 - 607K / .12
• Jan. 31 - 587K / .13
• Feb. 7 - 562K / .11
• Feb. 14 - 640K / .15
• Feb. 21 - 589K / .14
• Feb. 28 - 555K / .13
• Mar. 7 - 624K / .17
• Mar. 14 - 590K / .15
• Mar. 21 - 550K / .12

* Aired on SyFy

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