AEW Dynamite Beats NXT Ratings on Debut With a Fine Margin
AEW Dynamite has beaten NXT in the TV rating game on its debut episode on 2nd October by gaining around 1.4 million viewers.
Previously, being telecast on WWE Network, NXT started airing on USA network from 18 September onwards. With the debut of AEW Dynamite on TNT this week, 2nd October was the first time that both NXT and AEW Dynamite went head to head on Wednesday prime time slot. The estimated viewers both the shows would get was a hot topic in the last few weeks.
Now, The Wrap is reporting that AEW Dynamite has comfortably beaten NXT in the rating games for the opening week. As per the report, Dynamite was viewed by 1.4 million viewers while WWE’s yellow brand attracted 891,000 viewers for this week. NXT’s viewership is down for around 11% from last week’s one-hour edition of the USA network.
The difference of 500,000+ viewers can be seen as a big victory for AEW. Most of the speculation before the shows estimated a lot closer contest. The main reason that can be attributed to such stellar performance could be the curiosity for a new product.
With a run of around 5 years in the current setup, NXT has been a known quantity. Even, it already started airing on the USA Network two weeks prior to the season opener on 2 October. And the audience is already familiar with the product that they are offering.
The rating difference becomes more significant when you consider that NXT was actually advertising 3 title matches for this week’s episode. AEW Dynamite’s debut episode also saw the Women’s title match along with most of their stars in action.
