By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW President Tony Khan issued the following tweets on Thursday regarding Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite television via his Twitter page.
If anyone thinks I consider being a top 7 show on cable anything but a huge win, they’re incorrect. A win in the demo is a win in the business, and this is a business. I know the industry wasn’t talking about the demo as much 20 years ago, but it’s what drives our revenue today.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020
Here’s the chart the industry uses to analyze performance. The leftmost color-coded column is 18-49 demo. The rightmost color-coded column is total viewers. The chart’s ranked by 18-49 viewers. We love & value all viewers, in or outside that demo, but that’s how we score the game pic.twitter.com/aipX0MDfjP
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020
Why tweet about ratings? Because I’m thrilled about these numbers & so are TNT. My family drinks A Little Bit of the Bubbly (Chris’s actual brand) on Thursdays when we’re in the top 10, this is the 3rd time in 4 weeks, & I’m grateful for the great #AEW fans that make it possible!
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020
My favorite thing about some of the frequent repliers to my tweets is how the 18-49 demographic is these people’s best friend on Mondays and Fridays, and then they act like they never heard of it on Wednesdays.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020
Powell’s POV: I guess Khan answered my initial question of why he felt the need to comment on the ratings. He didn’t say anything that is not factual, but I guess I’m still surprised that he felt the need to address those who think he is unhappy with the numbers. In case you missed it, NXT drew 759,000 viewers compared to Dynamite’s 715,000 on Wednesday, yet Dynamite finished seventh in the 18-49 demographic, while NXT finished 24th in the same category
So…they get beaten 3 weeks in a row and Jacksonville Dixie goes into his usual panic mode. Considering how much he’s screwed up Fulham and the Jags with his toddler like mentally on social media, this could well be the beginning of the spiral for the company who can’t get half of what TNA did when they were flailing.
So, if I’m reading that right, most of NXT’s viewers were either 50 or older or 17 or younger. If that’s the case, the demographic can change a lot in a few years if the younger fans opt for NXT over AEW.
And now we know what it would be like if Trump owned AEW