SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

NXT scored another total viewership victory over AEW last night in week two of the big Wednesday night battle between two themed shows loaded with big matches. AEW, as usual, though, scored a demographic win and ranked much higher than NXT in the key 18-49 demo tracked and charted by TV networks, advertisers, and the TV media.

NXT drew 759,000 live and same-night-DVR viewers, down from last week’s 794,l000, but the fourth week in a row the show drew at least 748,000 viewers. It’s the best NXT viewership stretch since the Feb. 5 through March 4 stretch with four weeks in a row above 700,000. The last three weeks averaged 780,000. The three week stretch before the fan-free pandemic era began, NXT averaged 710,000 (Feb. 26-March 11).

AEW drew 715,000 viewers, down from 748,000 last week. The gap between the two shows was 44,000 this week, 46,000 last week. AEW, though, finished no. 7 among all cable shows in the 18-49 demo with a 0.28 rating. NXT finished no. 24 in that demo with a 0.20 rating.

AEW President Tony Khan touted the demo rating on Twitter. “A win in the demo is a win in the business, and this is a business.” He said being no. 7 on cable is “a huge win.”

By the way, after three days of viewership added up, AEW won the week-one battle by a 925,000 to 911,000 margin, although NXT becomes available on WWE Network after 1 day, and those viewers aren’t counted as a TV rating.

 

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