NJPW Draws Lowest Viewership On AXS So Far

Thursday's taped episode of New Japan Pro Wrestling drew 50,000 viewers on AXS, according to Nielsen via Wrestlenomics.

This is down 29.57% from the 71,000 viewers that the previous episode drew, which was the premiere of first-run NJPW shows on AXS.

Thursday's episode drew a 0.01 key demo rating, which is even with the 0.01 rating that the premiere drew the week before. This week's 0.01 key demo rating represents 16,000 18-49 viewers, which is even with the 16,000 18-49 viewers that the premiere drew.

As was the case with Thursday's Impact Wrestling episode, which serves as the lead-in to NJPW on AXS, NJPW did not make the Cable Top 150. The NJPW premiere on March 3 also did not make the Cable Top 150.

Despite being in just the second week of its run of new content, this was NJPW's lowest total viewership on AXS so far, and that includes the recent re-run episodes. The key demo rating was tied with last week's show and one re-run as the lowest key demo rating so far. This week's NJPW viewership was down 29.57% from the week before, while the key demo rating was even with the week before.

AXS aired NJPW re-runs from January 20 until February 24 as the lead-up to the new episodes that began on March 3. You can see the full ratings breakdown for the re-runs below. The high was the January 20 show, which drew 88,000 viewers with a 0.03 key demo rating, and 37,000 18-49 viewers. The low was the February 24 show, which drew 53,000 viewers with a 0.02 key demo rating, and 24,000 18-49 viewers.

The NBA game between the Nets and the 76ers on TNT topped the night on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.91 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, also drawing 2.493 million viewers. Hannity on FOX News topped the night on cable in viewership with 3.791 million viewers, also drawing a 0.36 key demo rating to rank #4.

Young Sheldon on CBS topped the night on network TV in viewership with 6.790 million viewers, also drawing a 0.62 key demo rating. Law & Order: SVU on NBC topped the night in the 18-49 key demographic for network TV with a 0.65 rating, also drawing 4.507 million viewers.

Thursday's NJPW on AXS featured the New Year's Golden Series, which was taped back on February 19 in Sapporo, Japan. The episode was headlined by IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask defending in a Fatal 4 Way against El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori, Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi, and El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, plus more tag team action with IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi defending against EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi.

For those who missed it, you can click here for our ratings report for Thursday's post-Sacrifice edition of Impact Wrestling.

Below is our 2022 NJPW on AXS ratings tracker:

RE-RUN EPISODES:
January 20 Episode: 88,000 viewers with a 0.03 rating in the 18-49 demographic (37k 18-49 viewers)
January 27 Episode: 66,000 viewers with a 0.01 rating in the 18-49 demographic (15k 18-49 viewers)
February 3 Episode: 60,000 viewers with a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demographic (20k 18-49 viewers)
February 10 Episode: 61,000 viewers with a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demographic (25k 18-49 viewers)
February 17 Episode: 76,000 viewers with a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demographic (23k 18-49 viewers)
February 24 Episode: 53,000 viewers with a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demographic (24k 18-49 viewers)

FIRST-RUN EPISODES:
March 3 Episode: 71,000 viewers with a 0.01 rating in the 18-49 demographic (16k 18-49 viewers)
March 10 Episode: 50,000 viewers with a 0.01 rating in the 18-49 demographic (16k 18-49 viewers)
March 17 Episode: