AEW Dynamite Scores Highest Rating Since February, WWE NXT Also Rises
A highly-successful week - and an inexplicably great night for AEW.
AEW Dynamite just scored its highest-rated show in six months, coming through with a considerable Wednesday Night Wars boost under unlikely circumstances.
Dynamite's 0.36 rating in the key 18-49 demographic was the show's best since the 2 February episode. On top of this, AEW's overall viewership of 901,000 was higher than it has been since 15 March, making this week the promotion's most successful since the global health crisis kicked in.
Dynamite benefited from a stronger lead-in than usual on TNT. 460,000 18-49 viewers tuned in for the start of the show, with the number increasing to 479,000 for the second quarter, feeding into AEW's internal belief that in-ring action, not promos and other segments, drives viewership. Dynamite's opening quarters were dominated by the Dark Order's 12-man tag with The Elite and FTR.
AEW's numbers are up from the previous week's 0.30 18-49 rating and viewership of 773,000.
WWE NXT also posted a ratings increased, going from 0.18 to 0.20 in the demographic - the show's highest since 8 July. Viewership improved from 707,000 to 753,000. NXT's greatest success came in the 50+ demographic, beating AEW 0.39 to 0.33.
A combined 1.645 million people watched live professional wrestling on Wednesday night. All of this came in the wake of increased sports competition following the NBA, MLB, and NHL's returns.