NXT 2.0 stopped its continued decline since the relaunch with viewership staying steady and its 18-49 number improving this week.
After weekly declines since the September 14th “revamp” of the brand, NXT finished with 632,000 viewers and 195,000 (0.15) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
The average viewership was identical to last week’s figure while the 18-49 demo improved by 15 percent this week.
NXT got lucky with the scheduling of the various sports competition on Tuesday night. The big MLB playoff game was San Francisco vs. L.A., which didn’t start until the second hour of NXT, which meant they only went against the game for 43 minutes. The Giants vs. Dodgers was the most-watched show on cable on Tuesday with 5,145,000 viewers and 1.36 in 18-49 on TBS.
There were two other MLB games but neither conflicted with NXT 2.0.
It was also the opening night of the NHL’s season where the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning went against the entirety of NXT and finished third on cable with 983,000 viewers and 0.38 in 18-49 on ESPN.
NXT finished 33rd for the night among cable programs.
The demos reflected a rebound for NXT with adults 18-34 improving 50 percent and males 18-49 growing 23.5 percent this week. Females 18-49 also increased by 12.5 percent from last week’s show.
The 12-34 audience was significantly improved with females in that demo doubling from 0.03 to 0.06 and males up 67 percent in that demo.
After five editions, the NXT 2.0 concept is averaging 687,000 viewers and 0.17 in 18-49.
In Canada, NXT aired outside of its regular timeslot and didn’t air until 10:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 360 where the show averaged 29,000 viewers.
Because of Thanksgiving, Canadian numbers have been delayed this week. This past week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown averaged 120,100 viewers and 49,600 in 25-54 on Sportsnet 360, which was up from the draft show the week prior that did 115,700 and 37,300 but faced a big Toronto Blue Jays game.
This past Monday’s edition of Raw saw a big drop with 167,500 viewers and 70,600 in 25-54 on Sportsnet 360, down from 226,000 and 102,000 respectively for the draft edition the week prior. The major sports competition for Raw this past Monday in Canada were Monday Night Football, two MLB playoff games, and a pre-season game for the Toronto Raptors.
Here is a breakdown of the key demos from Showbuzz Daily with comparisons to last week:
ADULTS 18-49
This week: 0.15 (+15 percent)
FEMALES 18-49
This week: 0.09 (+12.5 percent)
MALES 18-49
This week: 0.21 (+23.5 percent)
ADULTS 18-34
This week: 0.09 (+50 percent)
FEMALES 12-34
This week: 0.06 (+100 percent)
MALES 12-34
This week: 0.10 (+67 percent)
ADULTS 25-54
This week: 0.17 (+7 percent)
ADULTS 50+
This week: 0.35 (-10 percent)
