NXT ran a taped edition of the program on New Year’s Eve and held steady.
The December 31 show – taped on December 19 – averaged 626,000 viewers and 201,000 (0.15) in the 18-49 demographic.
While its overall audience fell by 13% from Christmas Eve, the core demo grew by 5%.
The show aired against the Fiesta Bowl between Penn State and Boise State, which attracted 13,372,000 viewers and a 3.44 rating in the 18-49 demographic on ESPN and won the night. It also had 395,000 viewers on ESPN2.
NXT also aired against New Year’s Eve programming on ABC, CBS, and NBC, although it managed to rank eighth in the demo among all programming on Tuesday.
NXT also ranked ahead of Fox’s prime-time programming in the 18-49 demographic beating back-to-back episodes of Kitchen Nightmares.
The key to NXT’s audience was its younger audience with the 18-49 and 18-34 audiences growing throughout the episode.
In the 18-34 demographic, it did a 0.10 rating.
NXT’s final broadcast on Sportsnet 360 in Canada saw an average audience of 28,000 with 14,000 in the 25-54 demographic. So, it crashed in Canada on New Year’s Eve despite holding up in the U.S.
Data: Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider
