There were plenty of arguments over the past week with sides arguing over viewership and demo numbers between AEW and NXT. This week there was no debate with the outcome of Wednesday’s figures.
Going against competition from NASCAR and the UFC, AEW grew its audience for its “Fight for the Fallen” event averaging 788,000 viewers and ranking fifth among all cable shows with a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Viewership improved by 10% and the demo rating increased by 3.5% this week for a show built around an AEW title match between Jon Moxley and Brian Cage.
NXT came off its Great American Bash series with a drop in its numbers. The show fell 17% in viewers to 631,000 viewers and a huge loss of 30% in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.14 rating representing the second-lowest in the demo since launching on the USA Network.
It was NXT’s lowest viewership since May 20th while AEW scored its highest viewership since May 27th and second highest since April 1st.
NASCAR coverage at 8:30 pm Eastern saw FS1 average 2,076,000 for the race from Bristol and was third for the night with a 0.35 rating in the demographic.
The UFC prelims that went head-to-head with AEW and NXT did 434,000 viewers on ESPN from 7-10 pm Eastern with a 0.17 rating. It was not a big UFC card as the main card only increased to 536,000 and a 0.22 rating for a show headlined by Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige.
For the AEW show, they dominated among adults 18-34 beating NXT 0.16 to 0.05 as NXT was down 54.5% in that demo (even with AEW decreasing by 16% itself).
With males 12-34, AEW won with a 0.20 rating to NXT’s 0.02 with the latter declining by a staggering 85% this week. NXT’s male 18-49 audience decreased by 46% this week.
AEW won all the key demos except for adults over 50, where NXT fell by 7.5% but still won with a 0.36 rating to AEW’s 0.30.
This was not a great outing for NXT as the decrease week-to-week was enormous in several categories including the main 18-49 demo. The show was promoted around the NXT women’s title match between Io Shirai and Tegan Nox, which served as the show’s main event going against Moxley vs. Cage on TNT.
Here is a breakdown of the key demos:
ADULTS 18-49
AEW: 0.29 (+3.5%)
NXT: 0.14 (-30%)
FEMALES 18-49
AEW: 0.18 (+6%)
NXT: 0.14 (-7%)
MALES 18-49
AEW: 0.40 (+2.5%)
NXT: 0.14 (-46%)
ADULTS 18-34
AEW: 0.16 (-16%)
NXT: 0.05 (-54.5%)
FEMALES 12-34
AEW: 0.10 (-9%)
NXT: 0.09 (-)
MALES 12-34
AEW: 0.20 (-5%)
NXT: 0.02 (-85%)
ADULTS 25-54
AEW: 0.35 (+9%)
NXT: 0.19 (-14%)
ADULTS 50+
AEW: 0.30 (+11%)
NXT: 0.36 (-7.5%)
