WWE NXT Draws Best Viewership Of The Year, AEW Dynamite Also Up This Week
Week 72 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite defeat WWE NXT in viewership and ratings.
Wednesday's live edition of Dynamite drew 831,000 viewers (+11% from last week) on TNT, topping the 734,000 viewers (+3%) garnered by the live NXT show on the USA Network by 13%, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.
AEW ranked #5 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #24. AEW ranked #60 in viewership, while NXT ranked #66 in viewership.
Last week's Dynamite show drew 747,000 viewers and ranked #4 on the Cable Top 150, and #69 in viewership. Last week's NXT show drew 713,000 viewers and ranked #39 on the Cable Top 150, and #70 in viewership.
AEW drew a 0.35 rating in the 18-49 demographic (+13%) while NXT drew a 0.18 in the same demo (+13%) this week. Last week's AEW show drew a 0.31 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.16 in that demographic.
NXT drew their best audience of the year this week, and their best key demo rating of 2021. This week's NXT viewership was up 2.95% from last week, while the key demo rating was up 2%. NXT viewership for this week was up 2.4% from the same week in 2020, and the key demo rating was down 22% from the same week last year.
Dynamite drew their third-best audience of 2021 this week, and second-best key demo rating of the year. This week's Dynamite viewership was up 11.24% from last week, while the 18-49 rating was up 3%. Dynamite viewership for this week was down 4% from the same week last year, while this week's key demo rating was up 17% from the same week in 2020.
The 10pm NBA game on ESPN between the Lakers and the Jazz topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.48 rating, drawing just 1.326 million viewers. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show topped the night in viewership with 3.468 million viewers, ranking #9 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.24 rating in the key demo.
The Conners on ABC topped the night on network TV in viewership with an average of 3.789 million viewers. The Goldbergs on ABC took the #1 spot in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.67 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:
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:
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