Week Two of AEW Fyter Fest vs. NXT Great American Bash another stalemate – total viewership win for NXT, demo win for AEW

NXT scored another total viewership victory over AEW last night in week two of the big Wednesday night battle between two themed shows loaded with big matches. AEW, as usual, though, scored a demographic win and ranked much higher than NXT in the key 18-49 demo tracked and charted by TV networks, advertisers, and the TV media.

NXT drew 759,000 live and same-night-DVR viewers, down from last week’s 794,l000, but the fourth week in a row the show drew at least 748,000 viewers. It’s the best NXT viewership stretch since the Feb. 5 through March 4 stretch with four weeks in a row above 700,000. The last three weeks averaged 780,000. The three week stretch before the fan-free pandemic era began, NXT averaged 710,000 (Feb. 26-March 11).

AEW drew 715,000 viewers, down from 748,000 last week. The gap between the two shows was 44,000 this week, 46,000 last week. AEW, though, finished no. 7 among all cable shows in the 18-49 demo with a 0.28 rating. NXT finished no. 24 in that demo with a 0.20 rating.

AEW President Tony Khan touted the demo rating on Twitter. “A win in the demo is a win in the business, and this is a business.” He said being no. 7 on cable is “a huge win.”

By the way, after three days of viewership added up, AEW won the week-one battle by a 925,000 to 911,000 margin, although NXT becomes available on WWE Network after 1 day, and those viewers aren’t counted as a TV rating.

If anyone thinks I consider being a top 7 show on cable anything but a huge win, they’re incorrect. A win in the demo is a win in the business, and this is a business. I know the industry wasn’t talking about the demo as much 20 years ago, but it’s what drives our revenue today.

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020

Here’s the chart the industry uses to analyze performance. The leftmost color-coded column is 18-49 demo. The rightmost color-coded column is total viewers. The chart’s ranked by 18-49 viewers. We love & value all viewers, in or outside that demo, but that’s how we score the game pic.twitter.com/aipX0MDfjP

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020

Why tweet about ratings? Because I’m thrilled about these numbers & so are TNT. My family drinks A Little Bit of the Bubbly (Chris’s actual brand) on Thursdays when we’re in the top 10, this is the 3rd time in 4 weeks, & I’m grateful for the great #AEW fans that make it possible!

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) July 9, 2020