Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV | Tagged: aew, dynamite, ratings, wrestling

AEW Dynamite Sheds 150k+ Viewers for Blood and Guts Follow-Up

Published Thu, 13 May 2021 16:46:09 -0500

Viewership fell for AEW Dynamite this week as fans, hopefully experiencing an epiphany and giving up AEW to return to the warm embrace of The Chadster's beloved WWE, tuned out. The viewership number this week comes from PW Torch because the usual source, Showbuzz Daily, is having technical difficulties. On Twitter, Showbuzz Daily posted:

A note to our readers: we're having technical issues today, and will post cable ratings as soon as we can.

— Mitch Metcalf/Salem (@ShowBuzzDaily) May 13, 2021

But the PW Torch twitter posted:

AEW Dynamite last night drew 936,000 viewers (down from 1,090,000 last week) and 0.66 cable rating (down from 0.72 last week). More at https://t.co/b30cDz6YY1 later. #AEWDynamite #AEW

— Pro Wrestling Torch (@PWTorch) May 13, 2021

That's right, MJF, it's time to par-tay because NXT lost fewer viewers than AEW Dynamite did this week.

Importantly, that .66 number refers to the overall cable rating, not the more typically shared 18-49 demo rating. Last week, AEW scored a .42 in 18-49, and that number is also down this week:

AEW demos: Among 18-49, 0.31, (down from 0.42 last week). Male 18-49, 0.44 ( down from 0.58) #AEWDynamite #AEW

— Pro Wrestling Torch (@PWTorch) May 13, 2021

What's unknown is where Dynamite ranked this week compared with other shows. Last week, Dynamite was number one, but depending on how much the show dropped in 18-49, they could be back out of that spot. MTV's The Challenge Reunion Special was ranked second last week with a .32 in 18-49, but there's no episode of The Challenge this week, so it's possible that AEW could have walked out with the number one spot despite their massive drop. The Chadster will be sure to update this article as soon as more data is released.

Beg all you want, Christopher Daniels. AEW Dynamite's relationship with the number one cable spot is probably as dead as SCU's partnership.

The real story here, at least in The Chadster's eyes, is in how many viewers tuned out of AEW, in comparison to how many tuned out of The Chadster's beloved NXT this week. Here's what The Chadster wrote about those yesterday:

According to Showbuzz Daily, NXT was ranked 25th on cable for the night, down four spots from last week. In the 18-49 demographic, NXT dropped from a .18 to a .17. And in overall viewership, the part that really cuts deep for The Chadster, WWE NXT lost 64,000 viewers, falling from 761,000 to 697,000 viewers.

So despite AEW Dynamite having an unfair advantage with their compelling programming, NXT still lost far fewer viewers this week. So in a way, NXT won the ratings wars this week and AEW lost. How does that feel, Tony Khan? NXT is winning the Tuesday/Wednesday Night Ratings Wars, and that's the bottom line 'cause Chad said so!