Report Assesses Ratings Impact Of WWE NXT Move To The CW

Tuesday marks the debut of "WWE NXT" on broadcast television, as the show will be moving to The CW from its previous home on the USA Network. The move will come with plenty of tradeoffs, as The CW is in more homes than USA Network, but the latter is a higher-profile channel compared to the former UPN.

According to Wrestlenomics, The CW will bring "NXT" to 18 million more homes, as that is the number of households currently using over-the-air antennae. That said, the extra 18 million homes is not as significant an increase, as USA Network was already in 70 million homes. The CW has also reportedly struggled to deliver comparable ratings to high-performing cable networks like USA.

"NXT" will, however, likely be the most-viewed program on The CW, should the program be able to deliver the entirety of its USA Network audience to The CW on Tuesday. The show is expected to have an outsized viewership for the premiere on its new broadcaster, similar to how "SmackDown" premiering on Fox drew impressive viewership numbers. Unlike the Fox deal though, once the "NXT" ratings normalize after the highly-promoted show, even numbers comparable to the USA Network audience will still be a significant boost to CW's viewership.

The move comes amid WWE's media rights shuffling around the proverbial game board. While USA is losing "NXT," it recently gained "SmackDown," which ended its run on Fox in September. This means USA Network plays home to both of WWE's flagship weekly shows until "Raw" premieres on Netflix on January 6.

CM Punk is also expected to have a major role on The CW "NXT" premiere, which should bring more eyes to the product. Meanwhile, other upcoming episodes will feature main roster stars like Randy Orton, indicating that WWE wants to get the new era of the development brand's weekly show off to a strong start.