NXT 2.0 returns to pre-revamp average in terms of demo ratings and viewership after two week surge

NXT 2.0 dropped back to typical viewership levels last week (9/28) after a two week boost since the debut of the new-look show. The Sept. 28 episode drew 655,000 live and same-night viewers, actually a bit below the five week average of 692,000 before the switch to the new logo and heavy ad campaign hyping a new era for the Tuesday night series. Excluding two weeks it was bumped to SyFy network and lost nearly 200,000 weekly viewers, NXT averaged 687,000 viewers in May, June, and July.

In they key 18-49 demo, it drew a 0.14 rating, tied for the lowest rating for the shows on USA Network since June 29. It finished no. 32 among all cable shows that night. It’s just one episode, but it’s indicative of two weeks of curiosity and intrigue followed by a loss of more than the total viewers they gained. It’ll take more than one bad week to declare it a failure, just as it took more than two weeks to declare it a success. The prior two weeks drew demo ratings of 0.24 and 0.21, the first time the show drew above a 0.20 rating since April when it drew 0.22, 0.23, and 0.22 its first three weeks on Tuesday nights instead of Wednesdays.

The male 18-49 demo drew 0.20, again in line with the pre-NXT 2.0 revamp, and below the 0.29 and 0.24 the first two weeks after the make-over. The show had drawn male demo rating as high as 0.27 back on Aug. 10 and 0.26 on July 13 and July 20. In the male 18-34 demo, it drew 0.14, well below the 0.21 and 0.24 ratings the prior two weeks, and on the lower end of the pre-2.0 average, which was 0.16 the prior ten weeks before the 2.0 launch.

It drew an overall cable rating of 0.54, down from 0.57 the prior two weeks, and in line with the 0.53 average the prior ten weeks before the 2.0 make-over.

The seven-day viewership total for the first NXT 2.0 episode on Sept. 14 was 878,000, up from the prior ten-week average of 754,000. (compared to 1.399 million for AEW Dynamite that same week; Dynamite averaged over 1.3 million viewers over seven days the prior ten weeks). NXT’s ten-week average live and same-night viewership before the 2.0 launch was 652,000, and it’s seven-day total averaged was 754,000, so the show averaged growth of 102,000 over seven-days. The seven-day growth for the debut of NXT 2.0 was in line with that average at 108,000.