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**Mr. Nerfect** · 08-07-2020, 09:30 PM

I thought 1.4 million when they started was alright. I don't think I would praise it, per se. I don't think it would be as embarrassing for wrestling. Right now they are within spitting distance of WWE hours six and seven. If WWE is so bad (and it is), then I don't see a reason that AEW shouldn't be doing numbers comparable to a SmackDown when it was on the USA Network.

They have the stars (they should have more, but they goofed themselves out of that), they have the platform and with a billionaire's backing and that platform, there is no reason they couldn't have a comparable immediate promotional reach. If two new shows debuted on USA and TNT next week, they're in about the same amount of homes. There's no reason to assume that one has a distinct advantage over the other. WWE has overall product awareness, but so many people I know still call it the WWF and don't know it still exists. I think the "WWE has been around for ages so it's obviously going to be more popular" angle is bullshit.

So about 2 million people for a wrestling product with Chris Jericho, JR and Jon Moxley that isn't WWE and is apparently good. Yeah, I might be tough on that. But given the apparent buys of the first Double or Nothing, 1.4 million viewers on TV for that audience was pretty predictable, if you take PPV as about 5% of the TV audience. So that hardcore audience showing up for wrestling not WWE is about 1.4 million people. That they haven't built on that at all is actually pretty sad.

What AEW does do well, as I think wrestling does, is that it gets its viewers to watch live more regularly. A lot of shows would only get about a third of their audience to watch every week, and AEW is doing better than 467k. And they actually seemed to convert about 10% of that audience to PPV for Double or Nothing II.

So AEW has a very strong and loyal following (for the moment). But have done absolutely nothing to bring lapsed fans back or create new ones.

I'd be impressed by >2 million people. I think the 1.4 million-2 million range is fine for bad wrestling in 2020. That's still the green zone for me. Below 1.4 million is where things go yellow. Great numbers for AEW, but not really for wrestling. Anything between 467k-934k is orange. That's when that hardcore audience is there between a third and two-thirds in potential number. Below 467k is red. I estimate the bottom for AEW is 420k.

08-07-2020, 09:30 PM	#1837
Mr. Nerfect Posts: 60,919	I thought 1.4 million when they started was alright. I don't think I would praise it, per se. I don't think it would be as embarrassing for wrestling. Right now they are within spitting distance of WWE hours six and seven. If WWE is so bad (and it is), then I don't see a reason that AEW shouldn't be doing numbers comparable to a SmackDown when it was on the USA Network. They have the stars (they should have more, but they goofed themselves out of that), they have the platform and with a billionaire's backing and that platform, there is no reason they couldn't have a comparable immediate promotional reach. If two new shows debuted on USA and TNT next week, they're in about the same amount of homes. There's no reason to assume that one has a distinct advantage over the other. WWE has overall product awareness, but so many people I know still call it the WWF and don't know it still exists. I think the "WWE has been around for ages so it's obviously going to be more popular" angle is bullshit. So about 2 million people for a wrestling product with Chris Jericho, JR and Jon Moxley that isn't WWE and is apparently good. Yeah, I might be tough on that. But given the apparent buys of the first Double or Nothing, 1.4 million viewers on TV for that audience was pretty predictable, if you take PPV as about 5% of the TV audience. So that hardcore audience showing up for wrestling not WWE is about 1.4 million people. That they haven't built on that at all is actually pretty sad. What AEW does do well, as I think wrestling does, is that it gets its viewers to watch live more regularly. A lot of shows would only get about a third of their audience to watch every week, and AEW is doing better than 467k. And they actually seemed to convert about 10% of that audience to PPV for Double or Nothing II. So AEW has a very strong and loyal following (for the moment). But have done absolutely nothing to bring lapsed fans back or create new ones. I'd be impressed by >2 million people. I think the 1.4 million-2 million range is fine for bad wrestling in 2020. That's still the green zone for me. Below 1.4 million is where things go yellow. Great numbers for AEW, but not really for wrestling. Anything between 467k-934k is orange. That's when that hardcore audience is there between a third and two-thirds in potential number. Below 467k is red. I estimate the bottom for AEW is 420k.