WWE NXT Rating Rebounds For July 11 After Independence Day Plummet
Last week, with "WWE NXT" airing on the Independence Day holiday in the United States, the number of people tuning in naturally took a nosedive, averaging the show's lowest viewership during its nearly four-year run on USA Network (The "key demo" of adults aged 18 to 49 didn't drop as sharply, though). So with that in mind, and "Raw" stars Finn Balor and Damian Priest wrestling in the main event with Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio at ringside, how did "NXT" recover this week?
According to Wrestlenomics on both its Twitter and Patreon pages, the July 11 "NXT" averaged 671,000 viewers overall across its two hours (up 32 percent from last week), approximately 256,000 of which were in the key demo (up 54 percent from the week prior). The latter figure translates to a 0.20 rating in P18-49. No cable rankings were available as of this writing to compare how that did against its competition. That said, with SpoilerTV.com reporting that "NXT" had stiff competition with the Major League Baseball All-Star Game averaging 7,006,000 viewers overall and a 1.61 rating in P18-49 on FOX, this week's "NXT" drawing 13 percent fewer viewers overall and 15 percent less in P18-49 than the recent high-water mark of the June 20 show with Seth Rollins, this week's numbers have to be considered a win.
Mostly good news in the longer-term trends
For a more extensive picture, the Wrestlenomics Patreon page tracks how "NXT" did in various demographics in relation to the median of the prior four weeks' numbers. By that metric, most demos were up, with the exceptions being men aged 18 to 34 (down 36 percent from the median), adults aged 18 to 34 (down 14 percent), and women aged 35 to 49 (no change). Of the increases, the biggest percentage change was in men aged 35 to 49 at 71 percent, followed by adults aged 35 to 49 at 47 percent and women aged 18 to 34 at 44 percent. Besides the non-change in F35-49, the only shift within Nielsen's stated ten-percent margin of error was in all viewers outside of 18 to 49, which saw a seven percent increase over the median.
According to the quarter-hour ratings reported by Wrestlenomics, the show peaked in total viewers with 715,000 watching the final quarter with Finn Balor and Damian Priest versus "NXT" Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams, while P18-49 topped off at 285,000 for Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey versus Chase U in quarter two.