AEW Dynamite And WWE NXT Suffer Big Drops In Viewership Against Impeachment Coverage
Week 70 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite defeat WWE NXT in viewership and ratings.
Wednesday's live edition of Dynamite drew 741,000 viewers on TNT, while the live "Takeover: Vengeance Day" go-home edition of NXT drew 558,000 viewers on the USA Network, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.
AEW ranked #21 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #62. AEW ranked #68 in viewership, while NXT ranked #83 in viewership.
Last week's Dynamite show drew 844,000 viewers and ranked #3 in the Cable Top 150, and #63 in viewership. Last week's NXT show drew 610,000 viewers and ranked #51 in the Cable Top 150, and #77 in viewership.
AEW drew a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic while NXT drew a 0.12 in the same demo this week. Last week's AEW show drew a 0.32 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.15 in that demographic.
Coverage of the President Trump impeachment trial dominated cable TV last night and had an impact on both shows.
This week's Dynamite viewership was down 12.2% from last week, and down 9.4% in the 18-49 rating. This was the fourth-worst Dynamite audience since October, and tied with the January 27 episode as the third-worst 18-49 rating since October. This week's Dynamite viewership was down 9.3% from the same week in 2020, while the key demo rating was down 3.33% from the same week last year.
This week's NXT viewership was down 8.5% from last week, while the 18-49 rating was down 20% from last week. This was the second-worst NXT audience since October, and tied with the Christmas Eve show as the worst 18-49 rating in NXT history. This week's NXT viewership was down 26.3% from the same week last year, while the key demo rating was down 50% from the same week in 2020.
As noted, the impeachment trial coverage dominated cable last night. CNN's 7pm coverage topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.62 rating, drawing 4.049 million viewers. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show topped the night in viewership with 4.453 million viewers, ranking #13 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.42 rating in the key demo.
Chicago Fire on NBC topped the night on network TV in viewership with an average of 7.500 million viewers. Chicago Fire also took the #1 spot in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.99 rating.
Below is our 2021 NXT Viewership Tracker:
January 6 Episode: 641,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year's Evil episode)
January 13 Episode: 551,000 viewers with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 20 Episode: 659,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 27 Episode: 720,000 viewers with a 0.21 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 3 Episode: 610,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 10 Episode: 558,000 viewers with a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 17 Episode:
2020 Total: 37.027 million viewers over 53 episodes
2020 Average: 698,623 viewers per episode
2019 Total: 10.209 million viewers over 13 episodes
2019 Average: 785,307 viewers per episode
Below is our 2021 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:
January 6 Episode: 662,000 viewers with a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year's Smash Night 1 episode)
January 13 Episode: 762,000 viewers with a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year's Smash Night 2 episode)
January 20 Episode: 854,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 27 Episode: 734,000 viewers with a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 3 Episode: 844,000 viewers with a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Beach Break episode)
February 10 Episode: 741,000 viewers with a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 17 Episode:
2020 Total: 42.970 million viewers over 53 episodes
2020 Average: 810,755 viewers per episode
2019 Total: 10.840 million viewers over 12 episodes
2019 Average: 903,333 viewers per episode