REVEALED: WWE's Plan To Attract Younger Viewers
Nick Khan on how WWE plans to reverse its ageing viewership...
WWE's television audience has an age problem.
In 2019, the average Raw and SmackDown viewer was around 54 years old. Two years later, with WWE's P18-49 ratings declining at a greater rate than overall viewership, that figure could be even higher. Elsewhere, vewers aged over 50 is the only demographic in which NXT is regularly able to outdo AEW Dynamite in the Wednesday Night Wars.
Yes, younger viewers may be more inclined to watch via YouTube clips or through other social media platforms, but television rights fees are WWE's biggest revenue source and the main reason for the promotion's insane profitability. These numbers matter.
Figuring out how to reverse this trend is a longstanding problem, but WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan has a plan. Here's what he said in a recent interview with Forbes:-
“No matter when people start watching, they’re always going to obviously get older, so you always have to figure out a new way to get young people in. So what we’re in the middle of -- the Bad Bunny thing ... that’s obviously tailored towards a young audience. We’re in the process now of developing a number of different animated properties, some with the desired demographic of 2 to 6 years old, so the thought is to get kids in young. We’re also reevaluating our entire gaming strategy. So I’m not convinced that there are a group of 15-year-olds watching linear television who just don’t happen to be watching us. They’re finding our content elsewhere, and we have to get to them before they’re even 15, to make sure we have a chance to win over new fans so when the other fans start to phase out and get older, we always have a new population coming in.”
The use of Bad Bunny is notable. Having debuted at Royal Rumble 2021, where he performed his Booker T single, the rapper has now become a regular Raw fixture, and is expected to team with Damian Priest to face The Miz and John Morrison at WrestleMania 37. Also, Khan's closing sentence is in line with his bizarre "linear eyeballs" statement during last week's Q4 earnings call, which was the executive's obtuse way of stating he doesn't believe WWE's popularity has declined as viewers move away from television and towards alternative platforms.
Still, the television problem needs to be addressed. Rights fees rule pro wrestling. Further declines could see their value decrease, with the next round of negotiations expected to commence in 2023.