AEW Dynamite Ratings Report: Viewership rises sharply to highest in March, but what March demographic is most sharply down from a year ago?

This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite (3/22) drew an average of 954,000 viewers, a sharp increase over the previous three episodes which averaged 848,000 viewers. AEW built the show around an Adam Cole in-ring promo and Kenny Omega vs. Vikingo in what was billed as a “dream match” that was delayed due to the pandemic and Omega’s injury hiatus.

The overall cable rating (the percentage of homes with cable including streaming services that watched Dynamite) was 0.65, in line with the previous weeks’ ratings of 0.64, 0.63, and 0.64.

AEW experienced the most growth in the male 18-34 demographer, going from 0.38 last week (and a prior three-week average of 0.40) to 0.46 this week. In the key 18-49 demographic, it drew from 0.27 to 0.33.

Dynamite finished no. 4 in the 18-49 demo among all cable shows on Wednesday night, behind two NBA games on ESPN and “Vanderpump Rules” on Bravo. The top NBA game doubled Dynamite’s demo rating with a 0.66.

The first four weeks of March last year averaged 988,000 viewers, compared to 874,000 average in the same three weeks this year.

In the 18-49 demo, the first four weeks of March last year averaged 0.39 compared to 0.29 this year.

The 18-49 male demo in the first four weeks of March last year was 0.52 compared to 0.41 this year over the same four weeks.

In the 18-34 male demo, viewership in the first four weeks of March last year was 0.29 compared to 0.27 this year.

The overall cable rating through four weeks of March this year is 0.64 compared to 0.67 last year.

So not only does viewership remain lower than last year, but also a smaller percentage of homes that still have access to TBS is also down in the key demographics. It appears, with a relatively even male 18-34, demo, the biggest drop in AEW viewership year over year comes from that 35-49 demographic slice (perhaps not coincidentally, the demo most likely to have been watching because of the return of C.M. Punk who was on AEW TV a year ago this month).