PWTorch.com - TV RATINGS: Viewership for ROH & TNA Impact Week 1 on Dest. America - ROH fills previous show, Impact way down from Fridays

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TV RATINGS: Viewership for ROH & TNA Impact Week 1 on Dest. America - ROH fills previous show, Impact way down from Fridays

Jun 4, 2015 - 7:18:31 PM

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By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Wednesday Night Viewership Tracking

Week 1 - June 3

- Biggest Takeaway: There was not a significant gap in combined viewership for TNA Impact on a new night versus ROH TV.

- Ring of Honor: The first airing of ROH TV on Destination America drew 163,000 viewers at 8:00 p.m. EST.

The audience compares favorably to what ROH replaced. Previously in the 8:00 p.m. timeslot, "BBQ Pitmasters" drew 150,000 viewers on May 27 and 133,000 viewers on May 20.

The second ROH TV airing at 11:00 p.m. EST following TNA Impact drew 110,000 viewers.

The combined audience for both airings was 273,000 viewers.

- TNA Impact: Impact opened with 297,000 viewers in its new Wednesday night timeslot at 9:00 p.m. EST, down 30 percent from what the original airing averaged on Friday nights.

Impact then drew 85,000 for the West Coast/replay airing at 12:00 a.m. EST. This was down 40 percent from what the WC/replay averaged on Friday nights, albeit in a later timeslot following the ROH replay.

The combined audience for both airings was 382,000 viewers. This was down 31 percent from the average combined audience on Friday nights.

- The Comparison: ROH's total combined audience was 273,000 vs. Impact's total combined audience of 382,000 for a first-run edition of TNA's top show that had an existing presence on Destination America. For ROH, it was their first time back on cable TV in over five years for a replay of their syndicated weekend TV show.

The gap should have been wider for TNA's established show, but it will take time for TNA viewers to migrate from Friday to Wednesday nights. Plus, ROH likely benefited from replacing "BBQ Pitmasters," which had a built-in audience Wednesday nights on Dest. America.

Also, ROH TV drew a younger audience. The 8:00 p.m. airing's median age was 50.2 years-old, close to the desired 18-49 demographic window. Impact's median age at 9:00 p.m. EST was 52.2 years-old.

Neither show drew a broad audience. Impact's split was 79 percent m18-49 and 21 percent f18-49. Meanwhile, ROH was 75 percent m18-49 and 25 percent f18-49.

Finally, BBQ Pitmasters captures why that type of show is more desirable for networks than pro wrestling, as the May 27 episode's median age was 43.6-years old with a 50/50 split of m18-49 and f18-49 viewers.