By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite television show averaged 622,000 viewers for TBS, according to Wade Keller of PWTorch.com. The viewership count was up from the 609,000 viewership total from last week’s show.
Powell’s POV: Dynamite finished with a 0.19 rating in 18-49 demo, up from last week’s 0.18 rating in the same demo. Tuesday’s NXT finished with 531,000 viewers and a 0.16 rating on Syfy Network. It will be interesting to see how much of a bump both shows get next week after the Olympics conclude. One year ago, the August 9, 2023 edition of Dynamite on TBS delivered 846,000 viewers and a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The Olympics aren’t affecting viewership, that’s just a Tony Khan/Dave Meltzer AEW excuse talking point.
If the show is good, people watch.
It’s an all pro wrestling and all of television talking point. This isn’t a Meltzer or Khan thing. It’s been talked about long before AEW even existed because it hurt WWE and even going back to WCW’s numbers shows were not moved to different networks. AEW has really damaged your brain.
WWE’s numbers aren’t suffering. Raw just did their normal number on SyFy, with a higher demo, which is in millions fewer homes than USA.
All the “big event was on TV” excuses are Tony/Dave bullshit that the mediocre wrestling bloggers all just lap up without a single critical thought.
622k isn’t out of the ordinary for Dynamite in recent months. The only reason the two prior weeks were up was hot shot booking that gave away their only compelling singles match and their top gimmick match.
Anyone who works in the television industry would laugh in your face if you told them the Olympics are not strong competition. The fact that WWE has done well against the Olympics is a testament to how hot their product is. It doesn’t mean the Olympics are not strong competition. It means WWE would have done even better numbers had Raw and NXT aired on their usual network and weren’t facing the Olympics. Is it possible AEW’s hot-shotting led to increased numbers? Of course. Will they bounce back to those levels post Olympics? Maybe, maybe not. You don’t get it. I don’t have a dog in the fight. If they do, so be it. If they don’t, so be it. But of course I’m going to point out that the Olympics are strong competition for them, just like I do for WWE and NXT.
I’ll ask again since you conveniently ignored it previously. IF the Olympics are not a factor, please explain why Smackdown took a hit when they ran against the opening ceremonies. Furthermore, please explain why WWE numbers dropped against the Olympics in the past even when they weren’t bumped to another network. This is common sense. Funny, I don’t remember you complaining in the past when I have listed the Olympics, major news stories, Monday Night Football, the NBA Finals, and other major events as the cause of WWE ratings dropping. Your obsession with AEW is unhealthy.
Sheldon drew 822k for Q1. The real number, for Q2-Q7, was 601k.
The PW Torch headline reads, “Viewership and key demo rating for MJF vs. Fletcher, Jarrett vs. Danielson…”
I hope MJF doesn’t brag about his ratings, as he seems to be booked in the first quarter slot lately – which only has the highest ratings, as we know, because of the Big Bang Theory. Q2, the end of his match, started the numbers drop off.
The numbers kept falling, despite the big names advertised in the main event, then wrestling a solid match.
It would be a test of anyone’s star power to be booked in the main event and raise the numbers.
Yes, he is booked in the first segment when the numbers are strong because of the lead-in. But it’s a testament to him that he’s placed in that spot. Naturally, AEW wants to keep as much of that lead-in audience as possible. Booking MJF in opening segments means they think he is one of the acts most likely to keep that audience.
I hope the strategy pays off. By design, AEW is built around matches, and WWE is built around personalities. I might use that time to attract a sitcom viewership with promos and storylines, versus a 60-minute match.
People want AEW to succeed, but now that the buzz is gone, they have to build up an identity all over again.