Backstage News On How WBD Feels About AEW In Light Of Recent TV Ratings Discourse

A subject often broached by AEW's detractors is the stagnation of its ratings over the last few months, but it seems that the key stakeholders in this matter, AEW's broadcast partner, WBD, are not concerned.

As per Andrew Zarian of "Fightful Wrestling's Beyond The Bell" podcast, the higher-ups in WBD are seemingly happy with the ratings that AEW's shows are bringing in, and the criticism that AEW faces online regarding the ratings doesn't matter to them.

"I've been hearing very positive stuff from WBD. I brought up the ratings and the internet chatter to them, and they're like, they don't care. It doesn't even resonate. The messaging on the internet's not even resonating with these people and they're in key positions there," said Zarian.

While AEW Dynamite — the promotion's flagship show — experienced a fall in viewership over the last few months, the March 19 edition of the show registered its highest viewership of 2025 with 658,000 viewers. AEW's sister brand "Collision's" ratings have also improved over the last few weeks, with last week's two-night show averaging 554,000 viewers on the first night and 584,000 viewers the following night, which is the highest for the show in 2025. 

Some in the pro wrestling industry, like Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, have argued that the decline in TV ratings could be because AEW fans are now watching the shows on WBD's streaming platform, Max, which began streaming AEW shows from January as part of AEW's new media rights deal. Wrestling veteran Bully Ray, who has been a fierce critic of AEW and Tony Khan, has acknowledged that AEW has shown significant growth in recent weeks, attributing that to fans returning to AEW or the promotion drawing in new viewers to their product, which he feels is a positive for them.