January 24, 2022 Observer Newsletter: WWE & AEW Q4 numbers, WWE Toronto Star article quote
We’ve got a look at the fourth quarter numbers for WWE and AEW television and live events.
The television numbers are based on shows that aired in their normal time slot and taking out holiday shows. We did not take out the night before Thanksgiving, which is a historic bad night for AEW, because it happens every year and we included it in both 2020 and 2021 so it is a fair comparison. But we did take out shows moved from Wednesday, as well as Smackdown shows on FS 1. The arena figures don’t include PPV shows.
When it comes to growth over the past year, or losses, keep in mind an approximate nine percent drop in homes with access to the top cable stations, notably TNT and USA for these comparisons. Now wrestling fans who watch weekly are more apt to remain with access to those stations so normalized, there is a drop, but it shouldn’t be nine percent. But a decrease of say five or six percent should really be considered staying even, particularly since overall television viewing drops were far greater except for sports.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.