WWE NXT Draws 1.2 Million Viewers For USA Network Debut
WWE's black and gold brand exceeds expectations with first two-hour show.
WWE NXT aired on USA Network for the first time this Wednesday (18 September), and it looks like the move was a big success.
Per Showbuzz Daily, the hour of NXT that broadcast on USA drew 1.179 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched original cable show in the United States that night. Only American Horror Story, Basketball Wives, and Black Ink Crew attracted bigger viewerships.
NXT scored a 0.56 rating in the key 18-49 year old demographic. For comparison, this week's Raw and SmackDown drew 0.89 and 0.78 in this category respectively. TNT, which will air AEW Dynamite from 2 October onwards, attracted 671,000 viewers for The Legend of Tarzan in the same timeslot as NXT.
The 1.179 million figure is a home run for NXT, considering the last episode to air on USA (in December 2017) drew 841,000 - which was less than a third of that week's Raw number.
It'll be interesting to see how the numbers stabilise after AEW has debuted and NXT has started running the full two-hour show on USA. Nonetheless, this is a strong, strong start from WWE's developmental brand, and the kind of number its tremendous first episode deserved.