Page 1 of 1

AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war

Posted: Oct 3rd, '19, 15:05
by cero2k
Source: f4wonline.com

AEW Dynamite is the victor in week one of the Wednesday Night War.

The Dynamite premiere averaged 1.409 million viewers on TNT last night and finished second for the night on cable in the all-important 18-49 demo with a 0.68 rating.

The latter was more than double the 0.32 rating that NXT on USA Network pulled in the same demo. NXT, despite limited commercial interruption and a loaded lineup featuring three title matches, averaged only 891,000 viewers, an 11 percent drop from the previous week, although the rating in the demo was the exact same as last week.

The most watched show on cable was an MLB Wild Card game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics, which did 3.969 million viewers and a 1.03 rating in the 18-49 demo.

This can’t be spun as anything but a positive for AEW, as there had been previous industry projections that pegged the show as doing in the 500,000 viewer range.

Earlier this afternoon, WWE issued a statement congratulating AEW on the premiere of Dynamite: "Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night’s head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint."

Image

Re: AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war

Posted: Oct 3rd, '19, 17:38
by Serujuunin
That statement is more than I ever expected from WWE as far as positivity to AEW.

Re: AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war

Posted: Oct 4th, '19, 04:46
by XIV
Serujuunin wrote: Oct 3rd, '19, 17:38 That statement is more than I ever expected from WWE as far as positivity to AEW.
It's a ploy. Play the gracious losers and hope that people try them out first next week. There's always something behind a play like this.

But at the end Vince knows that the closest anyone is to being a competitor right now is AEW competing with his 3rd placed show.

Re: AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war

Posted: Oct 4th, '19, 08:23
by Bob-O
I'm surprised WWE even acknowledged it, honestly. Talking about other companies isn't something they do, positive or negative.

One of the bigger newz guys (Lagana?) mentioned something about this being normal TV for AEW while NXT put it's foot to the floor with essentially a Takeover card, that really struck me. Granted, they were against a premier, but NXT can't operate at that level on a weekly basis and still got blown out of the water by AEW's day to day...

Re: AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war

Posted: Oct 4th, '19, 08:51
by cero2k
I kinda wish they hadn't acknowledged it, we all know it's a 'war', but don't actually make it one by acknowledging it.

Re: AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war

Posted: Oct 4th, '19, 14:53
by Big Red Machine
Bob-O wrote: Oct 4th, '19, 08:23 I'm surprised WWE even acknowledged it, honestly. Talking about other companies isn't something they do, positive or negative.

One of the bigger newz guys (Lagana?) mentioned something about this being normal TV for AEW while NXT put it's foot to the floor with essentially a Takeover card, that really struck me. Granted, they were against a premier, but NXT can't operate at that level on a weekly basis and still got blown out of the water by AEW's day to day...
This wasn't normal tv for AEW. It was the first TV show, which they have built up to and been hyping for months.