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Happy new year ! Wrestling is not starting the year in the best way as ESPN dominates all TV this week.
RAW Ratings (2nd January) :
Ratings : 1 605 000 (+49,30 %) & 0.41 sur les 18-49 [+0.14]
Ratings per hour :
H1 : [P2+ : 1 832 000] [18-49 : 0.46] [Cable Pos : 11]
H2 : [P2+ : 1 597 000] [18-49 : 0.42] [Cable Pos : 12]
H3 : [P2+ : 1 387 000] [18-49 : 0.36] [Cable Pos : 13]
RAW is back live at the beginning of 2023, after a best-of episode that did not attract many people (barely more than a million viewers). The red show finds a score that is not very high in a context where cable is dominated by sports (the top 10 is exclusively sports), notably American Football on ESPN (the group occupies 9 of the top 10 places on cable), as well as the NHL on TNT (1 778 000 & 0.60).
RAW was therefore relegated to the background, all in a week where the evening NFL game was broadcast on 3 channels which are ESPN, ESPN 2 and ABC to cumulate a monstrous total of 23,788,000 viewers with a 6.24 on 18-49. No competition is possible when the NFL is at this level and the playoffs still haven't started.
Ratings NXT (3rd January) :
Ratings : 653 000 (+11,05 %) & 0.16 sur les 18-49 [+0.04]
Cable Pos : 31th.
NXT is off to a solid start this year with numbers that match the good nights of last year. Especially with a 0.16 rating that is "only" in 31st place, it shows that Americans are watching a little more TV at the beginning of the year compared to some weeks where the ratings were absent.
A scattered audience on cable but NXT still has the same programs in front of it: College Basketball on ESPN (1,144,000 & 0.29) and the FBI series on CBS ( 7,591,000 & 0.60).
Ratings AEW Dynamite (4th January) :
Ratings : 864 000 (-1,37 %) & 0.26 sur les 18-49 [-0.02]
Cable Pos : 4th.
Dynamite is not starting the year very well with a really low score on 18-49 while they even inaugurate a new graphic identity and a change of scene. They are still 4th on cable which is not bad, but the gap between them and the NBA has widened quite a bit this week. Also note that the show was held on the same day as Wrestle Kingdom and that there were some notable absentees (Kenny Omega and FTR).
We'll have to stay vigilant and hope that this was just an accident and that the demo will come back next week with a really solid card. This should allow the company to re-energize the audience of their main show.
For reference, the NBA games on ESPN did 1,109,000 (0.42) and 1,029,000 (0.36) respectively. Not stellar scores either, the NBA didn't overperform either.
Ratings Smackdown (6th January) :
Ratings : 2 257 000 (-14,15 %) & 0.53 sur les 18-49 [-0.04]
After a big episode last week and the presence of John Cena, SmakDown is back to those rather normal numbers at the beginning of the year. A pretty normal episode for the numbers as the road to the Royal Rumble begins. Perhaps we could have expected a little curiosity effect following the latest twists in the Vince McMahon affair, but this was not the case.
The blue show ranked 2nd on all TV, just behind Fire Country on CBS (6,570,000 & 0.56) and tied with Shark Tank (4,007,000 & 0.53).
Ratings AEW Rampage (6th January) :
Ratings : 551 000 (+17,23 %) & 0.15 sur les 18-49 [+0.03]
Cable Pos : 31th.
Rampage is having a better start to the year than Dynamite. Although the score is not exceptionally high, it is still solid considering the yo-yo effect that Rampage can have. To be confirmed also next week, especially since this Friday was a very busy night on TV. Indeed, being 31st with a 0.15 in the 18-49 demographic shows that American TV was very active on this first Friday of the month.
For the direct competition, it is always Basketball with the NBA on ESPN. The game in front of the show realized an audience of 1 112 0000 with 0.40 on 18-49.
For more updates on WWE and AEW TV ratings, please follow Lariate Wrestle on Twitter @Lariate_Wrestle.