AEW Dynamite Viewership & Ratings Report: 6/19/24

This week's "AEW Dynamite" has posted the show's lowest-ever rating in its normal timeslot. According to the metrics shared by Programming Insider and confirmed by Wrestlenomics, Wednesday's "Dynamite" drew in just 502,000 viewers on average, with a 0.16 P18-49 rating. Overall viewership dropped by 26% compared to last week, while the key demographic fell by a whopping 30%.

The poor rating for the most recent "Dynamite" is just the latest entry in a trend of disappointing viewership. So far, overall viewership in June of this year is down 24% compared to June 2023, and the 18-49 demographic has dropped even slightly more than that. The decline in ratings comes at a precarious time, as AEW is entering the final months of its current TV deal with Warner Bros Discovery. Co-owner Tony Khan will soon be able to speak with other media companies about another deal, but it's undeniable that stronger ratings would put AEW in a stronger position to negotiate.

Wednesday's episode kicked off with MJF's first match of 2024, which saw him face Rush in a contest that has been built up over the last several weeks. Additionally, AEW Champion Swerve Strickland had a face-to-face confrontation with Will Ospreay, the Young Bucks were in action against The Acclaimed, and the main event began this year's Owen Hart Cup Tournament with a match between PAC and Claudio Castagnoli.

The quarter-hour ratings (via Wrestlenomics) tell a tale of generally declining viewership, with MJF's match starting the show off at its high-point with 586,000 overall and a P18-49 rating of 0.22. There was a modest increase from 8:45 p.m. ET through 9:15, with segments featuring stars like Mercedes Mone, the Young Bucks, and "Timeless" Toni Storm. However, by the show's overrun at the end, viewership had dropped to 423,000 viewers on average, and a 0.12 in the key demo.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp pointed out on X that he'd heard from multiple sources that believe the lack of "The Big Bang Theory" as the lead-in hurt Wednesday's show. The Marvel film "Black Panther" played instead, bringing in a "significantly lower number" of viewers compared to the popular sitcom.

The show took place on Juneteenth National Independence Day, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States and was introduced as a federal holiday in 2021. That night's cable rankings had both the College World Series and Expedition Unknown on Discovery outranking "Dynamite." Additionally, Amazon was streaming a live special featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar performing in Inglewood, California. Though it garnered a great deal of conversation online, Amazon does not release public viewership figures for its programming.