AEW Dynamite tops 1 million average viewers for sixth time in seven weeks for 3rd Anniversary Show, slightly below year-ago numbers – detailed stats and three-year perspective

The third anniversary edition of AEW Dynamite last night on TBS rebounded back over 1 million average viewers to 1.038 million. That’s 15,000 under last year’s 2nd Anniversary show.

It’s the sixth time in seven weeks Dynamite has topped 1 million average viewers, and last week was barely below 1 million, dipping primarily due to Hurricane Ian news coverage dominating cable viewership that night.

During the same seven week stretch last year, AEW topped 1 million average viewers each of those weeks, too, the longest 1 million-plus streak for the show ever. That stretch was right after the bump in viewership for the arrivals of C.M. Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole.

Comparing anniversary shows (viewership)

-10/2/2019 debut: 1.409 million (1.741 million after seven days)

-10/7/2020 (opposite NXT, Daily’s Place era): 753,000 (958,000 after seven days)

-10/6/2021 (not opposite NXT): 1.053 million (1.243 million after seven days)

-10/5/2022: 1.038 million (seven day total not available yet, obviously)

The current ten-week average is 1.021 million. The same period last year averaged 1.125 million.

The only other streaks of over 1 million viewers were four weeks from July 14 to Aug. 4 last year and the first three weeks of Dynamite being on air.

In the 18-49 key demo, it drew a 0.33 rating, actually down from last week’s 0.34 rating. The last six weeks averaged 0.34. The same seven week stretch last year averaged 0.37 in the core demo.

PWTorch has access to 7-day viewership totals, too. The eight-week stretch from Aug. 3 to Sept. 21 this year averaged 1.171 million viewers. The same eight-week stretch last year averaged 1.368 million viewers after seven days. So while the average year-to-year ten week viewership is down just over 100,000 viewers, the 7-day viewership average is actually down nearly 200,000 viewers. So half as many people who don’t watch Dynamite live are watching Dynamite on delay for some reason. That is relevant in that it cuts down on viewers who are likely to buy PPVs or tickets to live events and support AEW in other ways.