AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
As a reminder, last week saw the Transgender Day of
Visibility. We're not bodies with souls, but souls with
bodies; and who we are is not defined by a gender or
physical body. We are who we are, we are equally part of
Creation, and are equally deserving of love.
BJ Bethel of SESCoops reported late last Monday that,
according to his sources, AEW is averaging around 500,000 in
additional overall viewership for Dynamite on MAX since the
show debuted there in January, according to his sources.
If one combined this with average cable numbers, it would
give an estimated range of 1-to-1.2 million total overall
viewership per episode since added to MAX.
It's important to note that there are questions as to how
streamers compile their numbers (as seen with RAW on
Netflix). Neilsen numbers aren't calculated the same way as
streaming. So, it's not as if cable plus MAX equals viewers
reported each Thursday. Bethel's numbers are Live +1, which
includes replays and viewing part of the show.
In his report, Bethel reported that according to his
sources:
" ....the show is averaging around 60 million minutes
watched per show with a deviation of plus/minus 10 to 20
percent depending on the episode and competition. Nielsen
style viewership numbers aren’t necessarily important to
streamers, the minutes watched averages to 500,000 viewers
per episode Live-Plus-1. Meaning it takes into account
viewers who watched live on the app and for 24 hours
afterward.
In a February report, CNBC said MAX expects to reach 150
million global subscribers by the end of 2026. Estimates
from several companies believed MAX had around 60 million
subscribers in the US this year. Andrew Bucholtz of Awful
Announcing reported TBS had around 72 million homes in 2023.
The number is expected to be lower in 2025 due to downward
trends. Late last year, sources with WBD said the company
was impressed with AEW’s performance on TBS and TNT. The
result was a three-year deal for around $175-to-$185 million
per [year].
AEW PPV is expected to move to MAX once the app has the
capability to run PPV shows.
Sources said AEW has regularly out-performed some major
hockey games on the app. NBA games on MAX average around 1.7
to 2 million viewers depending on matchups and competition.
While AEW’s success on streaming has been noted by the WBD,
the numbers are far from top streaming programs like
Daredevil: Born Again and Agatha All Along, which brought in
numbers from 7 to 10 million per episode.
A source, who corroborated the numbers, said he expected AEW
to face stronger competition through the spring. The Andor
Star Wars series resumes in April. WWE is entering
Wrestlemania season. 'Many of the top execs don’t know the
overall numbers,' the source said. 'Whether its total
minutes watched. Viewers who have watched the total show.
(They) can make correlations but what streamers look for is
quite different from cable or OTA where numbers are there to
satisfy advertisers.'”
I asked someone from MAX about their thoughts on the story,
and was told:
"Could be. Seems high but I don’t get the numbers. But if
they’re counting Replay views, I’d say that’s probably
close, but Live is still majority TV audience. I’ve been
told AEW on MAX has gone up since debut...Some of the MAX
folks I spoke to are surprised at the article since many of
the MAX internal teams don’t even get numbers. But they
think I’m right that the number is likely Live+Replays."
But the most direct confirmation came when Jon Alba asked
Tony Khan about the report at the Dynasty press call last
Thursday. Khan said he was excited about the report and from
info from the Warner Brothers Discovery executives. Khan
said he been told the numbers are doing well.
He said while they don’t get weekly reports as he does from
Nielsen, that they have been told Dynamite is one of the top
sports streaming shows on MAX. He did however say that
"everything in the report is consistent with what they’ve
been told."
The numbers are in keeping with what poll after poll of
fanbases said on Fightful, Wrestling Observer Newsletter and
other social media...that a significant portion of fans are
watching on MAX. It became clear that an entire segment of
fans has cut the cord, and when given the option.... are
watching. Whatever the exact week to week viewership
actually is, the conclusion to be drawn is less about a
specific number, than understanding that MAX has added
substantial viewership to Dynamite and Collision.
This news might explain the succession of references to AEW
on WWE over the last 7-10 days. Seems even during
Wrestlemania season, AEW is living rent free in the heads of
WWE, their wrestlers, and even their legends.
In other news, Dave Meltzer reported on the March 31
Wrestling Observer Radio podcast that AEW is beginning to
monitor when Collision faces WWE competition on Saturdays,
such as PPVs and Saturday Night Main Events, meaning more
Collisions could be moved like the April 17 Spring BreakThru
Thursday show. TNT would rather not go head-to-head against
Saturday Night Main Event on NBC or WWE PLEs.
Another example of willingness to work with schedules for
AEW programming was mentioned in this blog when I wrote two
weeks ago about the Andrew Zarian report that AEW and Warner
Brothers Discovery would do a four-hour prime time special
this spring.
This weekend's Collision brought the official announcement
that this special would be AEW Fyter Fest, scheduled for
June 4 from Denver, CO, with AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision
combining for what had been described as being planned as a
PPV quality show that Wednesday, due to Stanley Cup Finals
games that Saturday on TNT.
Since Warner Brothers Discovery is losing the NBA rights
(which aired on Thursday nights) after this season, it could
be a test for a permanent move to Thursday, which had been
rumored ever since WBD lost the NBA contract. Andrew Zarian
guested on Fightful's In The Weeds this week, and brought up
the Thursday shows as a test run.
Another reason for a possible move to Thursday is potential
Warner interest in a part of the UFC package, possibly the
UFC Fight Nights, which air on Saturdays.
In some ways, it's indicative of how WBD views AEW as a
property in that they theoretically could be serving as an
NBA replacement, one of the feature sports properties the
company has had for years.
Speaking of AEW and MAX, even after the changes talked about
for the first tier of MAX subscribers, access to AEW
programming is still here. According to Rich Guleksen of
MAX, the B/R Sports section is now just Sports; and there’s
a new Watch AEW on MAX line on the Sports page that contains
episodes subscribers can add to their list, and makes things
a lot easier to find.
AEW also announced Wednesday the list of events for ALL IN
Texas week throughout the Arlington/Garland region as part
of AEW All In: Texas week, highlighted by multiple AEW
televised events, ROH Death Before Dishonor and a two-day
Starrcast event.
On Wednesday, July 9, AEW Dynamite will take place live from
Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. In addition, a
special live episode of AEW Collision will emanate from
Curtis Culwell Center on Thursday, July 10. Tickets for both
events go on sale Monday, April 21 at 10 AM CT via
AEWTix.com and CurtisCulwellCenter.com.
On Friday, July 11, Ring of Honor will return to Esports
Arena Arlington for ROH Death Before Dishonor. Tickets for
ROH Death Before Dishonor are currently available
exclusively as part of AEW All In: Texas VIP packages. A
limited number of tickets for ROH Death Before Dishonor will
be available on Monday, April 21 at 10 AM CT via ROHTix.com.
On Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12 at the Sheraton
Arlington, Starrcast will return to All In week. Starrcast
will feature meet and greets with AEW stars alongside other
legends of professional wrestling, revealing panel
discussions, exclusive fan events and more. Starrcast
packages will go on sale Monday, April 21st at 10 AM CT via
AEWTix.com and Starrcast.com.
AEW All In: Texas takes place Saturday, July 12 with a
special start time of 2 PM ET/1 pm CT live from Globe Life
Field in Arlington, Texas. Tickets for AEW All In: Texas,
including VIP Packages, are currently on sale via AEWTix.com
and Ticketmaster.com.
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