NXT Struggles with Viewer Numbers Against Strong NBA Showings
Summary
– WWE NXT’s latest episode saw a decrease in viewership, attracting 625,000 viewers, marking it the lowest since March 26.
– The show scored a 0.17 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, tying with its lowest performance since March 12.
– Competing against the NBA play-in tournament, NXT faced tough ratings challenges as the basketball games drew significantly higher viewer numbers.
Tuesday night’s WWE NXT episode encountered a downturn in viewership, recording an average of 625,000 viewers on the USA Network, representing a 3.4 percent drop from the previous week. This was the least-watched episode since late March, indicating a notable dip in the show’s audience.
The episode also experienced a decline in its performance within the key 18-49 demographic, where it scored a 0.17 rating. This figure shows a 10.5 percent decrease from the preceding week and matches the lowest demographic rating NXT has seen since the middle of March.
The diminished interest in NXT could be attributed to the concurrent NBA play-in tournament broadcast on TNT. The basketball coverage featured two games that significantly outperformed NXT in viewership, with averages of 3.94 million and 3.82 million viewers, respectively. The timing of these games, overlapping with NXT, likely diverted potential viewers away from the wrestling show.
Despite the recent drop, there is a silver lining when comparing the data with the same week in 2023. NXT has shown a year-over-year increase of 10.6 percent in overall viewers and a substantial 21.4 percent rise in the 18-49 demographic. This indicates that, while weekly fluctuations occur, the overall trend for NXT viewership might still be upward.
