Week 78 of the Wednesday Night War saw WWE NXT defeat AEW Dynamite in viewership, but not in ratings. This is the final head-to-head battle for the two brands as NXT is moving to Tuesdays beginning next week.
Wednesday’s new edition of Dynamite drew 688,000 viewers on TNT, while the live “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” Night One edition of NXT drew 768,000 viewers on the USA Network, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.
It should be noted that Takeover also aired via the WWE Network on Peacock, offering no commercials. Viewership for Peacock is not available.
AEW ranked #5 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #11. AEW ranked #61 in viewership, while NXT ranked #59 in viewership.
Last week’s Dynamite show drew 700,000 viewers and ranked #7 on the Cable Top 150, and #69 in viewership. Last week’s NXT go-home show drew 654,000 viewers and ranked #12 on the Cable Top 150, and #70 in viewership.
AEW drew a 0.28 rating in the 18-49 demographic while NXT drew a 0.22 in the same demo this week. Last week’s AEW show drew a 0.26 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.21 in that demographic.
NXT viewership topped AEW by 11.63% this week, while AEW’s 18-49 key demo rating topped NXT by 27.27%.
Dynamite was down 1.7% in total viewers this week, but up 7.7% in the 18-49 key demographic rating. This was the second lowest Dynamite viewership of this year, behind the January 6 show that went up against news coverage of the Capitol riot. It was tied with the March 17 show for the third lowest rating in the key demo behind last week and the January 6 show.
This week’s AEW viewership was down 0.6% from the same week in 2020, while the key demo rating was up 7.7% from the same week in 2020.
NXT viewership was up 17.4% from last week, and up 4.8% in the 18-49 key demo rating. This was the best NXT audience for the year, and the best 18-49 rating. Again, these numbers do not include the viewership from the Peacock/WWE Network airing, which offered no commercials to viewers.
This week’s NXT viewership was up 10.8% from the same week in 2020, while the key demo rating was up 15.8% from the same week in 2020.
The Challenge on MTV topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.49 rating, drawing just 904,000 viewers. The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC topped the night in viewership with 3.079 million viewers, ranking #14 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.19 rating in the key demo.
Chicago Med on NBC topped the night on network TV in viewership with an average of 6.875 million viewers. The Masked Singer on FOX took the #1 spot in the 18-49 demographic with a 1.14 rating.
Below is our 2021 NXT Viewership Tracker:
January 6 Episode: 641,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year’s Evil episode)
January 13 Episode: 551,000 viewers with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 20 Episode: 659,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 27 Episode: 720,000 viewers with a 0.21 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 3 Episode: 610,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 10 Episode: 558,000 viewers with a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 17 Episode: 713,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Takeover episode)
February 24 Episode: 734,000 viewers with a 0.18 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 3 Episode: 692,000 viewers with a 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 10 Episode: 691,000 viewers with a 0.18 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 17 Episode: 597,000 viewers with a 0.13 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 24 Episode: 678,000 viewers with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 31 Episode: 654,000 viewers with a 0.21 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 7 Episode: 768,000 viewers with a 0.22 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Takeover: Stand & Deliver Night 1 episode, also aired on Peacock/WWE Network, final Wednesday night show)
2020 Total: 37.027 million viewers over 53 episodes
2020 Average: 698,623 viewers per episode
2019 Total: 10.209 million viewers over 13 episodes
2019 Average: 785,307 viewers per episode
Below is our 2021 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:
January 6 Episode: 662,000 viewers with a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year’s Smash Night 1 episode)
January 13 Episode: 762,000 viewers with a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year’s Smash Night 2 episode)
January 20 Episode: 854,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 27 Episode: 734,000 viewers with a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 3 Episode: 844,000 viewers with a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Beach Break episode)
February 10 Episode: 741,000 viewers with a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 17 Episode: 747,000 viewers with a 0.31 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 24 Episode: 831,000 viewers with a 0.35 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 3 Episode: 934,000 viewers with a 0.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 10 Episode: 743,000 viewers with a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Revolution episode)
March 17 Episode: 768,000 viewers with a 0.28 rating in the 18-49 demographic (St. Patrick’s Day Slam episode)
March 24 Episode: 757,000 viewers with a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 31 Episode: 700,000 viewers with a 0.26 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 7 Episode: 688,000 viewers with a 0.28 rating in the 18-49 demographic
2020 Total: 42.970 million viewers over 53 episodes
2020 Average: 810,755 viewers per episode
2019 Total: 10.840 million viewers over 12 episodes
2019 Average: 903,333 viewers per episode
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