The program, which moved from USA Network to The CW in a five-year deal that begins this month, debuted Tuesday on the broadcast network to its largest audience in a year, according to live + same-day Nielsen data.
NXT secured 895,000 total viewers, up 44% compared to last week’s episode, which was the last on USA Network.
The episode peaked with 965,000 total viewers from 8:15 to 8:30 p.m.
While USA Network lost NXT, it gained SmackDown.
This is a fairly significant feat for SmackDown, as it moved to a network with a lot less reach than Fox.
The CW’s fall lineup appears to feature WWE’s NXT as a major player.
According to live + same-day Nielsen data, the show debuted on The CW on Tuesday to its largest audience in a year after moving from USA Network to the broadcast network in a five-year deal that starts this month.
NXT secured 895,000 total viewers, up 44 percent compared to last week’s episode, which was the last on USA Network. During the 8:15–8:30 p.m. peak, the episode had 965,000 total viewers. M. ET.
With adults 25–54 (406,000) and adults 18–49 (354,000), it was The CW’s best telecast of the year. This helped the network surpass its Tuesday primetime season average by 143 percent.
SmackDown was added to USA Network, but NXT was lost. It is the top-ranked show. 1 on cable for two of its first three weeks in its new location following its departure from Fox. 731,000 of the 1 point 7 million viewers who watched SmackDown’s premiere on USAN were in the 18-49 demographic.
In a matchup with its former network’s Washington-Rutgers football telecast last week, SmackDown emerged victorious with 602,000 viewers in the 18-49 demo (as opposed to Fox’s 512,000 viewers for its Big 10 football coverage).
Fox’s 1.93M for Washington-Rutgers was marginally higher than the 1.57M viewers for the same episode the week before, which saw a 5% increase in total viewers. This is a fairly significant feat for SmackDown, as it moved to a network with a lot less reach than Fox. About 120 million homes watch the broadcaster, compared to the roughly 70 million homes that have access to USAN.