AEW Dynamite Stays Under 1 Million Viewers For Show Featuring Shaq Debut, Tops WWE NXT

Week 73 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite defeat WWE NXT in viewership and ratings.

Wednesday's live Revolution go-home edition of Dynamite drew 934,000 viewers on TNT, topping the 692,000 viewers garnered by the live NXT show on the USA Network by 35%, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.

AEW ranked #6 in the Cable Top 150 for the 18-49 demo, while NXT ranked #19. AEW ranked #58 in total viewership, while NXT ranked #69.

Last week's Dynamite show drew 831,000 viewers and ranked #5 on the Cable Top 150, and #60 in viewership. Last week's NXT show drew 734,000 viewers and ranked #24 on the Cable Top 150, and #66 in viewership.

AEW drew a 0.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic, beating the 0.20 scored by NXT in the same demo by 83% this week. Last week's AEW show drew a 0.35 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.18 in that demographic.

AEW viewership was up 12.4% this week, but down 5.7% in the 18-49 key demo rating. This was the best Dynamite audience of the year, and the third-best 18-49 rating of the year. AEW viewership was up 3.1% from the same week in 2020, but down 5.71% in the key demo from the same week last year.

NXT viewership was down 5.7% this week, while the key demo rating was up 11.1%. This was the fourth-best NXT audience of the year, and the second-best key demo rating of the year. This week's NXT viewership was down 3.6% from the same week in 2020, while the key demo rating was down 13% from the same week in 2020.

On a related note, the AEW "Countdown to Revolution" special that aired at 10pm on TNT after Dynamite went off the air drew 347,000 viewers. The show ranked #51 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.12 rating in the key 18-49 demographic.

The Challenge on MTV topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.53 rating, drawing just 887,000 viewers. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show topped the night in viewership with 3.483 million viewers, ranking #16 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.20 rating in the key demo.

SEAL Team on CBS topped the night on network TV in viewership with an average of 4.162 million viewers. The Goldbergs on ABC took the #1 spot in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.60 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: 713,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Takeover episode)
February 24 Episode: 734,000 viewers with a 0.18 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 3 Episode: 692,000 viewers with a 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 10 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: 747,000 viewers with a 0.31 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 24 Episode: 831,000 viewers with a 0.35 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 3 Episode: 934,000 viewers with a 0.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 10 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