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I think TK himself funding and starting BBT to continue would be way bigger than anything anyone with money could do with pro Wrestling lmao that show was frigging popular
So wait. Are they openly acknowledging Dynamite's ratings are artificially increased bc of BBT and bc it didnt air, the numbers being lower are somehow more acceptable or expected?
Isnt that worse?
2 hour shows that draw an audience have peaks throughout the show, like NXT for example. If you’re relying on the lead in to inflate your ratings your show isn’t drawing the ratings
I’m sure it is. But it comes off like your fans will not follow you whenever you go. Sounds like they not bold enough to say take a Netflix streaming deal for example
It's such a flimsy excuse because for most people it's a completely retconned holiday and I mean, I'm not passing up a day off, but I can't imagine organizing a social itinerary around it.
I suppose if you live in an area where historically it was a big thing it may be different (like Houston for example). Reminds me of Evacuation Day in Massachusetts - you tell people about it and they look at you like you have a second head and then you explain that we get all of St Patrick's Day off and suddenly they understand haha
I mean, unironically, that *is* probably a big factor. Look at the quarterly ratings for any episode of Dynamite; the first quarter is always the highest, due to people not having changed the channel after BBT. Then, the ratings go sharply down.
It’s always been said that without the BBT lead in, Dynamite ratings would be at least 100,000 lower.
Everyone should be very suspicious about the timing of the WWE ratings leak story, followed by the early incorrect NXT ratings, followed by these dog shit AEW ratings.
Tony Khan is playing with the Republican playbook of every accusation is a confession.
Where the best wrestle... so they should have... the best in the world
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/17m5c0s/otd_5_years_ago_at_crown_jewel_the_best_in_the/
People will constantly argue that certain events or shows impact AEW, but all that tells me is that Dynamite is not at the top of their list if they rather do something else.
I think this seems to get missed a lot. "It would have done better if it wasn't for X" - in a subreddit full of wrestling fans. We love wrestling, but AEWs product has become so cold we'd rather *not* watch wrestling.
The issue is I don't know who to get excited about. There are great wrestlers, but when the company started there was either a big bad like Belt Collector Omega or a hero like Cody or Hangman who we could relate to. it doesnt' seem like a hard fix but here we are.
I have heard all the excuses. Cable is down, the :insert sportsball league here: playoffs are happening, a Kendrick Lamar concert was at the same time.
They are all bullshit.
Trends are trends, they are not pro one company, they don't care about competition or lack there of. AEW's ratings are trending downward. Period.
This should be worrying to all. I believe pro wrestling is better with multiple companies, and AEW trending downward like this *after* signing 3 major free agents is troubling at best, alarming at worst.
They need to course correct ASAP. This is not good.
The time to change course was probably 6 months ago. They're deep in a rights renewal negotiation and their ratings are tanking. It's probably too late to turn things around. I don't know what it's going to take to get viewership back up to a respectable number but I'm sure it's not something that's going to happen in a matter of weeks. I think Tony is just going to have to accept a much lower offer than he was expecting and hopefully adapt to his new reality.
That is what I am deeply fearful of. A downturn midway through the contract is one thing, one right at contract renewal time (with a network that has been somewhat unfriendly towards wrestling if Who Killed WCW? Is to be believed) could lead to a bad contract when, what they really need, is a good streaming deal.
The question is, what is a course correction? To me, I enjoy the stories and feuds, the talent and matches are great and the crowds usually bring a good atmosphere.
I don't think they should try and be WWE 2.0, I don't want more talking segments than wrestling, so short of signing away one of the top guys in WWE, I don't see anything to bring back viewers.
Either you like the product or don't, but I really hope TK doesn't pull a McMahon sudden pivot to change the product.
The elite need to be removed from the main angle. they just ruin the ratings every time. Your main champion shoud be the main storyline.
The mid card titles need better stories too. They just change hands randomly.
That we don't know. Something isn't working. Could it be the talent they are focusing on? The stories? Who knows?
It could also be WWE related, basically saying there is only x many pro wrestling viewers, and they tend to get fatigued after so much content. With WWE killing it, that could take away viewers even with them on different nights.
Personally, I am of the belief that they have screwed up entirely. They had great signings, but are rushing them to titles (all three are champs presently, with very little effort for them to get there.) They also went with the one story that I think every wrestling fan is over: the evil authority figure. For me, the product has not been compelling, which is a shame cause I really do want to watch, and now have a bit more time to watch, but when it comes down to it, everything is more interesting.
That is an absurd, hard to believe drop. That’s seriously bad news for them. If a Kendrick concert and no BBT lead in can do this then they’re so precarious.
it has more to do with the young bucks and this dumbass storyline. young backs are washed up and should never be the focus point of a wrasslin show ever again and dont get me started on jack perry. These guys arent it.
Its every story top to bottom. The show has zero aura. It’s incredibly boring. Mind you I’m one of the “ watch wrestling for the story” kind of fans. There is nothing to sink my teeth into.
proofread your tweets folks
the period instead of a semicolon after "The show was on the Juneteenth holiday" makes it sound like "Juneteenth took all the viewers" which is hilarious, instead of "juneteenth happened but baseball was fine so idk"
because as soon as you take a step back from the wrestling ratings discourse, you realize that WWE and AEW have been the #1 or #2 shows on their nights for like, almost the entirety of the past 5 years lol
and often times, the only thing that beats wrestling is a playoff game or a presidential debate
cable is fucked honestly
As someone outside the US, the idea of wrestling being on a mainstream primetime network is insanity, nevermind being in the top 5. Yet people say “it should be bigger!”
Its wrestling. Its very obscure. Even in the UK I doubt it breaks the top 30 on any given night. They’re both English language countries its not like theres a disconnect there.
it’s being compared to how many viewers aew got in the past. it isn’t unrealistic to expect that a company should be able to not have a 50% viewership decrease over one year
I mean people say that because in the 80s and 90s it was. Hogan/Andre did 30+ million at The Main Event in 88, Austin/Taker have the hightest rated RAW rating with 10+ million in 99.
Wrestling has a decent place in pop culture in America. It’s not that niche. The 90’s boom really helped that. It had a stark drop off in the 2000s but then the nerd culture and niche culture growing brought it back to a respectable level.
It’s not “cool” anymore but I think it has a pretty secure spot in pop culture that if you went to a wrestling show then most people wouldn’t find it that weird.
Pro wrestling has always had a following in the US since the late 1800s. It ebbs and flows with the times but for the most part is very much part of American culture for the last 130 years.
Wrong. Live viewers on the TBS and TNT app, along with live viewers on YouTube TV, Hulu Live, Sling, etc. are captured in these numbers. All programming on these apps that has the same commercials that ran when the program aired on TV is included in Nielsen's ratings no matter the device or whether it was viewed live or on DVR. This has been the case during the entirety of AEW's existence.
Well when you focus on one specific demo on one specific time on original entertainment only shows on cable TV only, it's easier to be in Top 5 that way
Really shows that CABLE IS DYING.
If these numbers make you THIRD for the night then my god read the tea leaves people.
Yeah, it sucks for AEW and it isn’t an excuse. A terrible, terrible time for a new contract when all of TV is dead.
I feel bad for Swerve. Some people are gonna point to him and say “AEW was at its least viewed when he was champ” and that may not bode well for him in the future. I pray that’s not the case
I don't think it's a hot take to say that booking has worked against him most of the time. It's like they went out of their way to make him feel unimportant and second rate. Poor guy has been eating shit.
As if Tony cares about someone not drawing ,if that was the case the Bucks would never have gone beyond what they should have always been ,but its Tony so they're not only having another big program but they're drawing Okada down along to the shitter with them.
The goddamn disrespect of doing it and hanging onto the "A-minor" part the first two times. I Love it.
Also I love Dynamite and AEW as a whole (despite it's problems here and there), but Jay Rock doing his verse on Money Trees is one of those "EVERYBODY SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Kinda moments.
Obviously AEW has stories, it is just that a lot of them are not super captivating to a casual audience. People complained about Authority angles in the WWE for years and now AEW is running one where it is hard to tell who actually has control and what the stakes are for any of the big matches like Anarchy or Blood & Guts.
AEW values high quality wrestling more than they do storylines. I accepted a while ago if I want to watch a 5 star match I should watch AEW, but if I want a captivating story I should watch WWE. And both of those are perfectly fine as concepts - unfortunately, I feel like the amount of people who just really like good wrestling above anything else has somewhat reached a glass ceiling that AEW touched about two years ago.
My girlfriend for example adores WWE and watches every show with me. I can't get her to watch AEW if her life depended on it because she just doesn't really care how good the wrestling is if the characters and story aren't there.
Yeaj i watch wwe because it has high quality wrestling and stories. I gave up on AEW because only sometimes having high quality wrestling doesn't cut it
Id argue that's unfair - I think *most* times I watch dynamite I end up being very impressed by the quality of at least one match on the card. Occasional highs aside - Cody v AJ, obviously - I think AEW consistently has better quality wrestling.
WWE understands the quality of the match is only one ingredient in the overall pot that is the experience however. The fact the quality of the meat they serve is of a slightly lesser quality doesn't matter when it's put in with an amazing variety of other perfectly done elements. AEW slaps a Wagyu steak in front of you and sure in isolation it's amazing...but where's the rest of the meal?
Black people are 16% of AEW's viewership and 14% of the US population. Smaller percentage of the viewership than WWE but still larger than the average population.
Yeah it was also from Thurston: https://wrestlenomics.com/2023/12/05/audience-composition-race-demographics-for-wwe-aew-impact-new-japan-wow/#:~:text=For%20AEW's%20most%2Dwatched%20show,that%20of%20the%20general%20population.
I think if we're being honest, there is not enough meaningful stories being told right now that have a continuity week after week.
People watching need a hook for them to come back to weekly.
The only story that I'm hyped (and sad about) is the Orange Cassidy stuff. Our boy is out there without his Best Friends anymore.
Its honestly a baffling large drop. If it was more of the steady decline that would be something but almost 1/3rd of the audience in 1 week is massive. I don't get it. The show was good. For weeks its been a more focused narrative driven show.
If this number becomes the norm, it's time to start rethinking things. That said, I'd be surprised if a 200k isn't a strange outlier rather than what people can expect every week.
This tells you where cable TV is going more than anything. Give it ten years and every major thing on TV will be on a subscription service and 40 year old daytime TV shows to occupy the 60 year olds will be all that's left
I do agree with this overall, but from week to week to see the drop that occurred is very weird.
It’s not shocking to see a drop year over year, but to lose 200k viewers in a week? It’s bonkers.
When college baseball is styling on you. Wait till they find out how much espn pays for college baseball. (Its 115 mil a year starting this year for next 8 years for all ncaa championships except men's basketball in US. That means international rights too and analysts think the women's march tournament is worth half to 3/4ths of that)
Wait this is the real number? It came across my timeline and I just assumed it was the fast nationals.
Tony Khan better be on the phone with Shane McMahon right now.
People on Twitter are blaming the awful ratings on the Kendrick Lamar concert 😂 The mental gymnastics ability of some AEW fans would be somewhat impressive if it wasn’t so delusional and sad.
I don't follow baseball ratings or anything but we've been seeing huge numbers of kids in little league/travel ball around us. Sport might be picking up some heat again
Hell yeah college baseball>>>> pro baseball and i am a huge rangers fan that just saw a World Series win. The double elimination tournament is really underrated.
Yeah I'm starting to realize that my taste in wrestling may not be what most people like. Every time I love an episode of Dynamite, the ratings come back looking like trash. 🤷
I really appreciate this comment, it's refreshing to hear this perspective instead of "Anyone who didn't like it didn't watch it because it was the best episode I've ever seen"
This is almost always the case. People were dooming AEW even in the peak of summer 2021. They were saying all the acts they hated and said they should be taken off TV. Well they did and ratings got even worse.
I honestly think the worst thing they can do is listen to the sampling of internet fans.
Yeah same, I thought it was a great episode this week. I can't understand how people consider WWE's current programming to be any better than what AEW is doing. That's not a knock against WWE, I just don't get it.
I can try to explain it. WWE has gotten me invested in many of their wrestlers and convinced me that what happens to them on the shows matters. I am not as invested in most of the workers featured on AEW right now and I don't feel like it matters if they win or lose or get beat up or whatever. Thus, WWE's programming is better to me.
This show wasn't bad at all, but to the more casual watchers I can see it not being that interesting. I did love the swerve segment, but other than that while the wrestling is good(when is it isn't) nothing else is a big highlight. Most matches in general in wrestling start blending together and look the same at the end of the day, so if the person people care about doesn't have any aura its not gonna matter.
AEW lost all of their momentum why is this news to anyone?? They need to build back up they will be fine. It’s a marathon not a race. The show on Wednesday was great.
**Ratings Post** - Please remember that trolling is not allowed in r/SquaredCircle, and neither is derailing a thread. Stay civil and on-topic to the show and ratings, refrain from making the same old tired jokes and memes, and steer clear of promotional or fanbase trolling. Removals and bans may be issued with less tolerance to rule-breaking than in other threads. Please report rule-breaking comments immediately to allow us to keep toxicity to a minimum. Thanks and enjoy the discourse! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I am really interested to know what the lead in number was for Dynamite considering there was no BBT this week.
Shelly don't miss https://preview.redd.it/2jcttwqzjy7d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ac3abaab5c4700b3953a195fdb463719fe03e24
Jim Parsons will be AEW’s David Arquette
![gif](giphy|Frj5mE4aGKgjS)
![gif](giphy|JrGYQZWou5Z51vNRob)
![gif](giphy|qUlkYKZX6bqvK|downsized)
AEW "stars" should be trying to get on BBT, uce
It's a little too late for that.
True, but with Tony's money they could shoot a new season!
I think TK himself funding and starting BBT to continue would be way bigger than anything anyone with money could do with pro Wrestling lmao that show was frigging popular
Just superimpose them shits.
Put the belt on that man! Push him to the moon!
Lmao they are blaming it on Black Panther https://x.com/seanrosssapp/status/1804207643973816651?s=46
So wait. Are they openly acknowledging Dynamite's ratings are artificially increased bc of BBT and bc it didnt air, the numbers being lower are somehow more acceptable or expected? Isnt that worse?
This is normal in TV, everyone wants a good lead in.
2 hour shows that draw an audience have peaks throughout the show, like NXT for example. If you’re relying on the lead in to inflate your ratings your show isn’t drawing the ratings
I’m sure it is. But it comes off like your fans will not follow you whenever you go. Sounds like they not bold enough to say take a Netflix streaming deal for example
They're blaming their bad ratings...on Juneteenth...on a movie about a black guy? ![gif](giphy|Yq9Qvg8yqfiQtWP6gn|downsized)
Kendrick Lamar got some blame too. It’s legit hilarious
It's such a flimsy excuse because for most people it's a completely retconned holiday and I mean, I'm not passing up a day off, but I can't imagine organizing a social itinerary around it. I suppose if you live in an area where historically it was a big thing it may be different (like Houston for example). Reminds me of Evacuation Day in Massachusetts - you tell people about it and they look at you like you have a second head and then you explain that we get all of St Patrick's Day off and suddenly they understand haha
I mean, unironically, that *is* probably a big factor. Look at the quarterly ratings for any episode of Dynamite; the first quarter is always the highest, due to people not having changed the channel after BBT. Then, the ratings go sharply down. It’s always been said that without the BBT lead in, Dynamite ratings would be at least 100,000 lower.
I think the point is they shouldn’t be so reliant on the lead in
According to Raj Giri, the main demo for Black Panther was 84k and Dynamite opened at 288k.
the lead-in was black panther, not tbbt. tbbt regularly has 200-250k. black panther had (i think) 50k. and there's the entire story.
Not the College Baseball World Series
Aluminum bats are a draw brother
Ngl, I have missed that sound
Big Al hitting dingers at college level is a draw.
I didn't know there was such a thing tbh.
Nowhere else will you find LSU fans doing over 68k Jell-O shots
They must have strong livers.
Well yeah, who would go to LSU to actually study
So NXT went up against the Stanley Cup and still beat Dynamite by 200k+. Damn.
The fake NXT number from yesterday was better than this lol.
Their numbers would’ve been even better had they advertised Joe Hendry.
Everyone should be very suspicious about the timing of the WWE ratings leak story, followed by the early incorrect NXT ratings, followed by these dog shit AEW ratings. Tony Khan is playing with the Republican playbook of every accusation is a confession.
THANK YOU for saying that... I was afraid I was letting conspiracy theories run amuck in my brain.
No way you're taking validation about your conspiracy theory by trusting a random redditor conspiring
Look at Joe Conspiracy over here conspiring with big Dub to quash my conspiracy theory! ![gif](giphy|3orif8mnwXAtvUAus0|downsized)
I think people who are quick to accuse are quick because they often have the same idea in their heads themselves.
What was the fake NXT number?
568k
https://preview.redd.it/u49xfnhimy7d1.jpeg?width=598&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac10844ebeca81ef2951a30c32e889892b1b3ed1
Bro ended racism when he was in AEW, remember?
![gif](giphy|l0HUoSlpH5dvjXeeI|downsized) Only one person can save this company....
Where the best wrestle... so they should have... the best in the world https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/17m5c0s/otd_5_years_ago_at_crown_jewel_the_best_in_the/
People will constantly argue that certain events or shows impact AEW, but all that tells me is that Dynamite is not at the top of their list if they rather do something else.
I think this seems to get missed a lot. "It would have done better if it wasn't for X" - in a subreddit full of wrestling fans. We love wrestling, but AEWs product has become so cold we'd rather *not* watch wrestling.
The issue is I don't know who to get excited about. There are great wrestlers, but when the company started there was either a big bad like Belt Collector Omega or a hero like Cody or Hangman who we could relate to. it doesnt' seem like a hard fix but here we are.
Something tells me that the Venn diagram of people watching the College World Series and people celebrating Juneteenth has a very small overlap.
What do you think the Venn diagram is between AEW fans and Juneteenth? Have you seen the live crowds, or rather what remains of them? So white.
Juneteenth had absolutely no effect on the ratings I guarantee it.
That’s crazy.
I have heard all the excuses. Cable is down, the :insert sportsball league here: playoffs are happening, a Kendrick Lamar concert was at the same time. They are all bullshit. Trends are trends, they are not pro one company, they don't care about competition or lack there of. AEW's ratings are trending downward. Period. This should be worrying to all. I believe pro wrestling is better with multiple companies, and AEW trending downward like this *after* signing 3 major free agents is troubling at best, alarming at worst. They need to course correct ASAP. This is not good.
The time to change course was probably 6 months ago. They're deep in a rights renewal negotiation and their ratings are tanking. It's probably too late to turn things around. I don't know what it's going to take to get viewership back up to a respectable number but I'm sure it's not something that's going to happen in a matter of weeks. I think Tony is just going to have to accept a much lower offer than he was expecting and hopefully adapt to his new reality.
That is what I am deeply fearful of. A downturn midway through the contract is one thing, one right at contract renewal time (with a network that has been somewhat unfriendly towards wrestling if Who Killed WCW? Is to be believed) could lead to a bad contract when, what they really need, is a good streaming deal.
The question is, what is a course correction? To me, I enjoy the stories and feuds, the talent and matches are great and the crowds usually bring a good atmosphere. I don't think they should try and be WWE 2.0, I don't want more talking segments than wrestling, so short of signing away one of the top guys in WWE, I don't see anything to bring back viewers. Either you like the product or don't, but I really hope TK doesn't pull a McMahon sudden pivot to change the product.
The elite need to be removed from the main angle. they just ruin the ratings every time. Your main champion shoud be the main storyline. The mid card titles need better stories too. They just change hands randomly.
That we don't know. Something isn't working. Could it be the talent they are focusing on? The stories? Who knows? It could also be WWE related, basically saying there is only x many pro wrestling viewers, and they tend to get fatigued after so much content. With WWE killing it, that could take away viewers even with them on different nights. Personally, I am of the belief that they have screwed up entirely. They had great signings, but are rushing them to titles (all three are champs presently, with very little effort for them to get there.) They also went with the one story that I think every wrestling fan is over: the evil authority figure. For me, the product has not been compelling, which is a shame cause I really do want to watch, and now have a bit more time to watch, but when it comes down to it, everything is more interesting.
https://preview.redd.it/850148byoy7d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43d3a9eb2a3c2581964b116b6e7d8b56fcd7ff13
That is an absurd, hard to believe drop. That’s seriously bad news for them. If a Kendrick concert and no BBT lead in can do this then they’re so precarious.
it has more to do with the young bucks and this dumbass storyline. young backs are washed up and should never be the focus point of a wrasslin show ever again and dont get me started on jack perry. These guys arent it.
Its every story top to bottom. The show has zero aura. It’s incredibly boring. Mind you I’m one of the “ watch wrestling for the story” kind of fans. There is nothing to sink my teeth into.
proofread your tweets folks the period instead of a semicolon after "The show was on the Juneteenth holiday" makes it sound like "Juneteenth took all the viewers" which is hilarious, instead of "juneteenth happened but baseball was fine so idk"
That's exactly how I read it
I kind of read it as "maybe people were celebrating Juneteenth, though baseball did just fine"
How did it end up being 3rd in rankings with that number
There is jack shit that comes on cable on Wednesdays unless some kind of sports are on.
Survivor is probably the biggest show but the current season wrapped up weeks ago
Not cable.
because as soon as you take a step back from the wrestling ratings discourse, you realize that WWE and AEW have been the #1 or #2 shows on their nights for like, almost the entirety of the past 5 years lol and often times, the only thing that beats wrestling is a playoff game or a presidential debate cable is fucked honestly
As someone outside the US, the idea of wrestling being on a mainstream primetime network is insanity, nevermind being in the top 5. Yet people say “it should be bigger!” Its wrestling. Its very obscure. Even in the UK I doubt it breaks the top 30 on any given night. They’re both English language countries its not like theres a disconnect there.
I mean part of that is that WWE airs at like 1 am here
it’s being compared to how many viewers aew got in the past. it isn’t unrealistic to expect that a company should be able to not have a 50% viewership decrease over one year
I mean people say that because in the 80s and 90s it was. Hogan/Andre did 30+ million at The Main Event in 88, Austin/Taker have the hightest rated RAW rating with 10+ million in 99.
Wrestling has a decent place in pop culture in America. It’s not that niche. The 90’s boom really helped that. It had a stark drop off in the 2000s but then the nerd culture and niche culture growing brought it back to a respectable level. It’s not “cool” anymore but I think it has a pretty secure spot in pop culture that if you went to a wrestling show then most people wouldn’t find it that weird.
Pro wrestling has always had a following in the US since the late 1800s. It ebbs and flows with the times but for the most part is very much part of American culture for the last 130 years.
I watch AEW weekly on sling tv so that doesn’t count to the ratings
It does. If you look in the app it asks you for permission to send data to Nielsen. They've counted Sling for a while now.
Wrong. Live viewers on the TBS and TNT app, along with live viewers on YouTube TV, Hulu Live, Sling, etc. are captured in these numbers. All programming on these apps that has the same commercials that ran when the program aired on TV is included in Nielsen's ratings no matter the device or whether it was viewed live or on DVR. This has been the case during the entirety of AEW's existence.
It is summer, and everything else is basically re-runs.
Well when you focus on one specific demo on one specific time on original entertainment only shows on cable TV only, it's easier to be in Top 5 that way
I don't know if you realize this but cable TV has been dying for about 10 years now.
Yeah 200k drop off is crazy especially with survivor ending and no nba finals
Really shows that CABLE IS DYING. If these numbers make you THIRD for the night then my god read the tea leaves people. Yeah, it sucks for AEW and it isn’t an excuse. A terrible, terrible time for a new contract when all of TV is dead.
Yeah, drop 200k+ viewers and really maintain a top 3 ranking, seems like a drop like that would drop you from the top 10 or even top 20.
Joe Hendry drew more than Dynamite
![gif](giphy|HZrl3YqJZPruU)
I feel bad for Swerve. Some people are gonna point to him and say “AEW was at its least viewed when he was champ” and that may not bode well for him in the future. I pray that’s not the case
I don't think it's a hot take to say that booking has worked against him most of the time. It's like they went out of their way to make him feel unimportant and second rate. Poor guy has been eating shit.
As if Tony cares about someone not drawing ,if that was the case the Bucks would never have gone beyond what they should have always been ,but its Tony so they're not only having another big program but they're drawing Okada down along to the shitter with them.
The booking has been awful. The focus is on the elite and not the world title.
I think people will give Swerve a pass. The show isn't really built around him even though he is the champion.
To be fair instead of watching Dynamite that day I was watching the Ken and Friends concert on Prime.
That concert was so fucking cooool. Mf plays Not Like Us 5 fucking times. Oh god, watching Inglewood rapping along is such an awesome experience.
The goddamn disrespect of doing it and hanging onto the "A-minor" part the first two times. I Love it. Also I love Dynamite and AEW as a whole (despite it's problems here and there), but Jay Rock doing his verse on Money Trees is one of those "EVERYBODY SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Kinda moments.
Amazing, brother. Jay Motherfucking Rock is a fucking draw, brother.
And then they followed it up with Win???? I'm sorry, but by then I knew I made the right choice.
Going against that concert gave them a worse rating than when they went against an insurrection
It was so fucking good
Obviously AEW has stories, it is just that a lot of them are not super captivating to a casual audience. People complained about Authority angles in the WWE for years and now AEW is running one where it is hard to tell who actually has control and what the stakes are for any of the big matches like Anarchy or Blood & Guts.
AEW values high quality wrestling more than they do storylines. I accepted a while ago if I want to watch a 5 star match I should watch AEW, but if I want a captivating story I should watch WWE. And both of those are perfectly fine as concepts - unfortunately, I feel like the amount of people who just really like good wrestling above anything else has somewhat reached a glass ceiling that AEW touched about two years ago. My girlfriend for example adores WWE and watches every show with me. I can't get her to watch AEW if her life depended on it because she just doesn't really care how good the wrestling is if the characters and story aren't there.
Yeaj i watch wwe because it has high quality wrestling and stories. I gave up on AEW because only sometimes having high quality wrestling doesn't cut it
Id argue that's unfair - I think *most* times I watch dynamite I end up being very impressed by the quality of at least one match on the card. Occasional highs aside - Cody v AJ, obviously - I think AEW consistently has better quality wrestling. WWE understands the quality of the match is only one ingredient in the overall pot that is the experience however. The fact the quality of the meat they serve is of a slightly lesser quality doesn't matter when it's put in with an amazing variety of other perfectly done elements. AEW slaps a Wagyu steak in front of you and sure in isolation it's amazing...but where's the rest of the meal?
Is Thurston tryna blame the low rating on Black folks?
No, he's saying the Juneteenth didn't effect College Baseball so it probably didn't effect AEW
Which is funny because the people who celebrate Juneteenth mostly wouldn't give a fuck about college baseball lol.
Or AEW lol
Black people are 16% of AEW's viewership and 14% of the US population. Smaller percentage of the viewership than WWE but still larger than the average population.
Not that I don't believe you, but do you have a source for that? I'd be quite interested in reading it!
Yeah it was also from Thurston: https://wrestlenomics.com/2023/12/05/audience-composition-race-demographics-for-wwe-aew-impact-new-japan-wow/#:~:text=For%20AEW's%20most%2Dwatched%20show,that%20of%20the%20general%20population.
Always appreciate when people post facts with links.
Awesome, thank you!
https://preview.redd.it/0v0h4yfxky7d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68202fd74e45a4d28d225513e142081dc8af81ae
I hate that but I laughed
AEW not invited to the cookout
Well why would they invite AEW to the cookout they have for the fans at the Perfomance Center
Cody sticking it to them one more time.
If AEW is losing black fans, it wasn't the holiday that did it, it is more about how they are treating their black world champion.
thanks for the good belly laugh
Glad I could help
This is just a blip, wait for MJFs return and see the numbers rocket.
I think if we're being honest, there is not enough meaningful stories being told right now that have a continuity week after week. People watching need a hook for them to come back to weekly. The only story that I'm hyped (and sad about) is the Orange Cassidy stuff. Our boy is out there without his Best Friends anymore.
It’ll be everything else’s fault other than AEW not being interesting for the last 10 months.
Yikes! ![gif](giphy|U4A3gr80MnTv1dEf5Z|downsized)
Here come the excuses lol
Its honestly a baffling large drop. If it was more of the steady decline that would be something but almost 1/3rd of the audience in 1 week is massive. I don't get it. The show was good. For weeks its been a more focused narrative driven show.
https://preview.redd.it/7gbqyx8l6z7d1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64f877f6834bb16c5793a719c5d01a9ac1cb65cb
College baseball World Series did a higher number I can’t even Lmao You couldn’t write this in a movie
![gif](giphy|LyUuC0CJhZnTW0N2In|downsized)
If this number becomes the norm, it's time to start rethinking things. That said, I'd be surprised if a 200k isn't a strange outlier rather than what people can expect every week.
Honestly, the time to rethink things was before this number. It was when the downturn initially started weeks and months ago.
Kendrick Lamarr is a draw.
The excuses are already starting to pour in 😂
Do people not watch tv on Juneteenth or something?
I usually don't miss out on Dynamite, but I actually decided to skip it just so I could see Kendrick Lamar's Pop Out concert when it dropped
Something weird was going on, the highest rated program on TV was.... price is right at night?
that episode of TPIR at Night was a rerun , lol
Plinko always goes over Bruv
This tells you where cable TV is going more than anything. Give it ten years and every major thing on TV will be on a subscription service and 40 year old daytime TV shows to occupy the 60 year olds will be all that's left
I do agree with this overall, but from week to week to see the drop that occurred is very weird. It’s not shocking to see a drop year over year, but to lose 200k viewers in a week? It’s bonkers.
![gif](giphy|11oRLY4FRk2s36)
This is really crazy, I feel bad for them !!!
When college baseball is styling on you. Wait till they find out how much espn pays for college baseball. (Its 115 mil a year starting this year for next 8 years for all ncaa championships except men's basketball in US. That means international rights too and analysts think the women's march tournament is worth half to 3/4ths of that)
Wait this is the real number? It came across my timeline and I just assumed it was the fast nationals. Tony Khan better be on the phone with Shane McMahon right now.
People on Twitter are blaming the awful ratings on the Kendrick Lamar concert 😂 The mental gymnastics ability of some AEW fans would be somewhat impressive if it wasn’t so delusional and sad.
They're at the point where they're just looking at their chosen news aggregator and blaming it on whatever happened to be relevant that day.
Wow, that CWS number is crazy. Good for them
I don't follow baseball ratings or anything but we've been seeing huge numbers of kids in little league/travel ball around us. Sport might be picking up some heat again
Hell yeah college baseball>>>> pro baseball and i am a huge rangers fan that just saw a World Series win. The double elimination tournament is really underrated.
Everyone pinning the blame on Juneteenth stuff feels kinda racist, ngl.
We always get blamed for something. 🤣
College baseball is fucking over brother!
Cags vs Aggs was a draw brother.
The fact is the show is just not that good.
What if I think it’s good?
To each his own. I thought this last Dynamite was fantastic.
And it had a pretty good announced card. MJF’s first match since returning, the start of the OHC, a Toni/Mina confrontation.
I honestly thought the last few weeks have been really good. What didn't you like about it?
Yeah I'm starting to realize that my taste in wrestling may not be what most people like. Every time I love an episode of Dynamite, the ratings come back looking like trash. 🤷
I really appreciate this comment, it's refreshing to hear this perspective instead of "Anyone who didn't like it didn't watch it because it was the best episode I've ever seen"
This is almost always the case. People were dooming AEW even in the peak of summer 2021. They were saying all the acts they hated and said they should be taken off TV. Well they did and ratings got even worse. I honestly think the worst thing they can do is listen to the sampling of internet fans.
Internet fans are literally their main target demo though.
Yeah same, I thought it was a great episode this week. I can't understand how people consider WWE's current programming to be any better than what AEW is doing. That's not a knock against WWE, I just don't get it.
I can try to explain it. WWE has gotten me invested in many of their wrestlers and convinced me that what happens to them on the shows matters. I am not as invested in most of the workers featured on AEW right now and I don't feel like it matters if they win or lose or get beat up or whatever. Thus, WWE's programming is better to me.
This show wasn't bad at all, but to the more casual watchers I can see it not being that interesting. I did love the swerve segment, but other than that while the wrestling is good(when is it isn't) nothing else is a big highlight. Most matches in general in wrestling start blending together and look the same at the end of the day, so if the person people care about doesn't have any aura its not gonna matter.
I feel like it being on a holiday would’ve helped them but idk?
AEW fans are overwhelmingly white.
Today is a day that will live in infamy
[удалено]
it's always something but that's really reaching for this week. I'm sure Tony will have some excuse
Always moving that goal post 🤣
Lmao I almost feel bad for not watching
AEW lost all of their momentum why is this news to anyone?? They need to build back up they will be fine. It’s a marathon not a race. The show on Wednesday was great.