By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling issued the following press release on Thursday to tout the total viewership for Tuesday’s television show across its various platforms.
NASHVILLE, TN – (December 10, 2020) – This past Tuesday night’s edition of IMPACT! on AXS TV shattered IMPACT Wrestling viewing records across digital platforms and trended No.1 on Twitter.
More than 750,000 fans tuned in to AXS TV on December 8 or have logged on to official streams to witness the historic, industry-shaking episode.
Reigning All Elite Wrestling World Champion Kenny Omega joined IMPACT Wrestling Executive Don Callis in breaking their silence following last week’s stunning events. AEW owner Tony Khan, flanked by AEW commentator Tony Schiavone, also appeared on IMPACT Wrestling’s flagship show in a sponsored segment.
“The intrigue of what Kenny Omega and Don Callis were going to do on IMPACT! on AXS TV powered a huge night for us,” said IMPACT Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore.
According to Nielsen TV ratings, 244,342 tuned into the 8pm ET and 11pm ET repeat.
The usual 8pm ET live-stream on Twitch peaked at 55,396, with an average of 42,953 viewers for the two-hour show’s duration. IMPACT! was the fourth largest Twitch stream of the day. The live NFL game – which went head to head with IMPACT! – peaked at just over 30,000.
Special encore presentations on IMPACT Wrestling’s Facebook and YouTube pages added 68,918 and 268,414 viewers respectively to the television audience. The show trended in the Top 15 on YouTube and IMPACT Plus recorded record peak concurrent views.
In addition, the segment of Josh Mathews interviewing Callis and Omega already has more than 197,242 views on Facebook and more than 342,00 views on YouTube. On Instagram, the segment currently has 146,000 views and 219,000 views on Twitter.
D’Amore said: “It is hard to compare apples and oranges, and some digital media provide better watch-data than others, but we feel confident over 750,000 U.S.-based fans watched the episode in the first 24-hours and 1-million fans have clicked on the various highlights we’ve put out on social media.”
He added: “It was a huge night for us. For me, the best takeaway is that fans who may not have seen IMPACT Wrestling before, or perhaps haven’t checked us out for a while, they all got to see what IMPACT is all about.
“They saw the depth of talent in the KNOCKOUTS division, the rekindling of the red hot Sami Callihan vs Eddie Edwards rivalry and a great main event featuring Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Chris Bey and Moose.”
Asked whether Omega would make his way to IMPACT next week, D’Amore said: “Don Callis alluded to this being years in the making; paradigm’s don’t shift in one night. See you on Tuesday.”
Powell’s POV: That’s an impressive number for Impact and AEW. It will be interesting to see what’s to come between the two companies and whether Impact can grow their AXS-TV audience going forward.
So the TV part still did less than 250k, the streaming never got above 55k, and the social media stuff is views not viewers, but they’re going to claim 750k.
Great “journalism” on that one. Call BS on it since it’s obviously a fake number.
“Across all platforms.” So much anger. Where have I seen this before? It’s as if you are telling me to “write this way.”
Still wondering how this benefits AEW? Give recognition to a company very few were paying attention to and for what in return? Maybe Kenny wins their title? But, again, Impact wasn’t on the radar of most fans anyway.
We’re talking about it. They created legitimate buzz. They should have done more to create the feeling that you never know what will happen next with Impact/AEW than they did on Dynamite this week, but the move got fans talking. Does Impact benefit more than AEW? I don’t know the terms of their agreement, but that’s certainly possible. If so, that’s okay. Maybe the bigger fish is helping the smaller fish. Or maybe there’s something bigger. A sale? Using Impact as a feeder system or just striking up the relationship to get AEW’s younger talent more bookings? In normal times, Impact runs a number of live events with independent groups, and those younger AEW wrestlers need more reps. I’m just speculating, but I don’t think it’s a negative even if there’s nothing more to this. It’s not like it hurts AEW in any way.
Exactly, it is a FAKE NUMBER.. when wwe put nxt on tuesday, good old impact wrestling’s “precious” ratings dropped to a mighty 100,000 viewers and the “glorious” 18 to 49 demo rating which advertisers swoon and get excited over dropped to a 0.02 rating.
So bitter. If you don’t like AEW, don’t watch AEW. Honestly, I’ll never understand wrestling fans who take the team sport mentality by cheerleading for one group while hating on another. There’s plenty out there. If AEW isn’t your thing, find something that is.