How many viewers has AEW lost in 5 years compared to WWE? Looking at the numbers
After a 2023 filled with controversy and middling results, AEW has kicked off 2024 with plenty of changes, including a revamped stage and presentation, the return of the ranking system, and a fallback to more of its original style. However, that hasn't brought about any explosive results thus far.
Even with the blockbuster signings of Mercedes Mone, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay, Tony Khan's promotion is still lagging far behind industry giant WWE, which is experiencing a surge in popularity and acclaim to go along with its greatest attendance numbers in years.
But what of the television ratings? While WWE RAW still dominates the airwaves among wrestling promotions on cable, AEW Dynamite often gets flak from critics due to a perceived nosedive from its inaugural episode in October 2019. But how do the two shows compare in the same time period? The results may shock you.
AEW Dynamite debuted on October 2, 2019, drawing a staggering 1.409 million viewers for its maiden episode. This is the number many point to, but when comparing the monthly viewership for Dynamite and WWE RAW across October 2019, the former brought in an average of 1.033 million viewers while RAW averaged 2.272 million.
Now that March 2024 is in the books for both shows, it can be reported that AEW Dynamite drew an average of 781,000 viewers over the past month – one of its lowest-drawing months in quite a while. In the same time period, Monday Night RAW drew an average of 1.704 million.
So how do the two compare? The results are shockingly close, with All Elite Wrestling's flagship show seeing a decrease of roughly 24% since October 2019, while RAW's average viewership dropped 25%. While the percentages are almost neck-and-neck, it seems that Dynamite managed to lose a slightly smaller portion of its average audience than WWE's red brand in the same period.
AEW Dynamite and WWE RAW are both fighting the decline of cable TV
While losing roughly a quarter of their television audiences each is nothing to laugh at, it seems that cable's top two wrestling programs may be defying the odds when it comes to the decline of traditional television subscribers.
According to the latest statistics from Statista, the number of homes in the US with cable TV subscriptions dropped from roughly 84 million in 2019 to a projected 56 million by the end of 2024.
If these statistics are even close to accurate, that's an alarming decrease of 33% over five years. With AEW Dynamite seeing a 24% dropoff and WWE RAW losing 25% of its viewership in the same period, both flagship shows would be in defiance of the downhill trend.
And there may be more good news ahead. AEW Dynamite, in its fifth year of existence, is just one year away from outlasting WCW Nitro. Additionally, Tony Khan's company might receive a major contract renewal with Warner Bros. Discovery this year.
Meanwhile, WWE RAW is preparing to jump to Netflix, where it could reach an entirely new – and potentially extended – audience. With SmackDown taking its place on USA Network this October, it will be interesting to see what the stats look like once 2025 rolls around.