NXT narrows the gap with AEW, edges out Dynamite in 18-34 demo

AEW dropped in viewership this week while managing a top ten position on the cable charts, meanwhile, NXT saw significant gains in its demos.

Photo Courtesy: WWE

AEW dropped in viewership this week while managing a top ten position on the cable charts, meanwhile, NXT had a similar outcome as WWE Raw this week.

AEW Dynamite featured the long-awaited “Arcade Anarchy” match as well as Christian Cage’s promotional debut and first singles match since 2014. The result was 700,000 viewers and a 0.26 in the 18-49 demographic. Those figures represented declines of 7.5 and 13 percent respectively.

It was AEW Dynamite’s second-lowest figure of 2021 behind the January 6th episode. That night featured wall-to-wall news coverage after the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

AEW fell 21 percent among males 12-34 and experienced a 12 percent drop with women 18-49. Their increases included a 12.5 percent jump among women 12-34 and its 50+ audience grew by 3.5 percent.

On the final episode before the two-night TakeOver: Stand & Deliver special, NXT averaged 654,000 viewers and a 0.21 in the 18-49 demographic where it finished 12th for the night on cable.

NXT’s viewership fell 3.5 percent but the demo increased 50 percent and equaled NXT’s best 18-49 number of 2021.

Like Raw, most of NXT’s key demos were up this week but they were hurt among its 50+ audience with a drop of 20 percent, leading to an overall viewership drop.

NXT had large gains with adults 18-34 continuing a trend over the past week where Friday Night SmackDown and Raw performed very well in that demo. NXT grew significantly with both males and females in the 18-49 demo.

In addition to the 50+ demo, NXT edged out AEW among women 18-49, adults 18-34, and men 12-34.

Both shows went against the NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics, which finished third on cable.

Next Wednesday will be the final head-to-head battle between AEW and NXT with the latter moving to Tuesday nights beginning April 13th.

Here is a comparison of both shows on Wednesday:

Source: Showbuzz Daily

ADULTS 18-49
AEW: 0.26 (-13 percent)
NXT: 0.21 (+50 percent)

FEMALES 18-49
AEW: 0.15 (-12 percent)
NXT: 0.16 (+45 percent)

MALES 18-49
AEW: 0.38 (-9.5 percent)
NXT: 0.25 (+47 perent)

ADULTS 18-34
AEW: 0.12 (-7.5 percent)
NXT: 0.13 (+62.5 percent)

FEMALES 12-34
AEW: 0.09 (+12.5 percent)
NXT: 0.07 (+17 percent)

MALES 12-34
AEW: 0.11 (-21 percent)
NXT: 0.13 (Even)

ADULTS 25-54
AEW: 0.31 (-11 percent)
NXT: 0.22 (+16 percent)

ADULTS 50+
AEW: 0.29 (+3.5 percent)
NXT: 0.32 (-20 percent)

About John Pollock 5513 Articles
Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.