WWE NXT ratings held on Jimmy Kimmel’s big night (UPDATED)

The ratings and viewership data are in for the Sept. 23 episode of WWE NXT on The CW… both sets of them.

We and others originally reported Programming Insider’s numbers. Our’s read:

… the No Mercy go home was watched by 617,000 viewers and drew a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 year old demographic. That‘s a 16% drop from the overall audience number the previous Tuesday’s guest star-laden Homecoming show, and NXT’s smallest audience in a month. Tuesday’s demo rating was down 29% week-to-week, and the lowest since last August.

But as kaos12 pointed out in the comments, PWTorch had a much different viewership number. And Wrestlenomics has confirmed the Torch’s figure with The CW. Those figures indicate NXT held almost all of its Homecoming audience with a big Title vs. Title main event, the TNA invasion angle, and the final push toward NXT’s PLE this weekend. This past Tuesday’s show is now said to have been watched by 707,000 live or on the same day it premiered, just a 4% off Sept. 16’s audience. The No Mercy go home drew a .17 rating with 18-49 year-olds, which is identical to the previous Tuesday’s best-since-February demo number.

Our original report on the Sept. 23 TV landscape follows, with the caveat it’s also based on Programming Insider’s now suspect numbers:

It was a pretty big night on television, at least for fans of reality competitions and basketball… and those who were interested in what a late night host would have to say about freedom of speech in a certain WWE Hall of Famer’s America.

Dancing With The Stars and The Voice led the way in total viewership and 18-49 ratings; ABC’s celebrity dance-off in first with a 1.02 from 5.46 million viewers, and NBC’s celebrity-coached sing-off with a .41 from 5.43 million. The WNBA Playoffs also did well in the ratings, as did ABC’s 10 p.m. ET offering (Kaitlyn Olsen’s fun-if-formula detective show High Potential) — likely in anticipation of Jimmy Kimmel’s return at 11:30, which drew record viewership despite being pre-empted in several markets by conservative affiliate owners. Fox News shows also had a strong night, likely discussing the controversy over Kimmel’s comments, the FCC chair’s response, and the comedian’s subsequent suspension.

Next Tuesday’s show shouldn’t have to deal with such a… complex… night on TV, but it will have fallout from both TNA Victory Road and NXT No Mercy, which should shift the invasion story started last Tuesday into a new gear.

Here’s a rundown of NXT’s audience and ratings share of the 18-49 demographic over the past year:

• Sept. 24, 2024: 620,000 / .19
• Oct. 1*: 895,000 / .26
• Oct. 8: 874,000 / .24
• Oct. 15: 639,000 / .18
• Oct. 22: 702,000 / .16
• Oct. 29: 588,000 / .14
• Nov. 6**: 619,000 / .17
• Nov. 12: 631,000 / .16
• Nov. 19: 672,000 / .19
• Nov. 26: 632,000 / .15
• Dec. 3: 593,000 / .13
• Dec. 10: 680,000 / .17
• Dec. 17: 708,000 / .16
• Dec. 24: 723,000 / .14
• Dec. 31: 626,000 / .15
• Jan. 7, 2025: 957,000 / .25 798,000 / .21
• Jan. 14: 779,000 / .17
• Jan. 21: 812,000 / .22
• Jan. 28: 827,000 / .19
• Feb. 4: 766,000 / .20
• Feb. 11: 801,000 / .18
• Feb. 18: 689,000 / .17
• Feb. 25: 799,000 / .19
• March 4: 698,000 / .15
• March 11: 732,000 / .15
• March 18: 676,000 / .15
• March 25: 741,000 / .16
• April 1: 650,000 / .15
• April 8: 683,000 / .17
• April 15: 663,000 / .14
• April 22: 686,000 / .17
• April 29: 674,000 / .15
• May 6: 652,000 / .14
• May 13: 664,000 / .15
• May 20: 697,000 / .13
• May 27: 650,000 / .14
• June 3: 684,000 / .15
• June 10: 726,000 / .15
• June 17: 660,000 / .16
• June 24: 729,000 / .16
• July 1: 627,000 / .15
• July 8: 695,000 / .16
• July 16: 586,000 / .12
• July 22: 747,000 / .16
• July 29: 675,000 / .16
• Aug. 5: 740,000 / .16
• Aug. 12: 728,000 / .17
• Aug. 19: 675,000 / .15
• Aug. 26: 616,000 / .12
• Sept. 2: 655,000 / .14
• Sept. 9: 654,000 / .14
• Sept. 16: 737,000 / .17
• Sept. 23: 617,000 / .12 707,000 / .17

* Moved to broadcast network The CW effective this date
*** Aired outside its normal Tuesday night primetime slot

If you missed any of this week’s NXT, we’ve got you covered with a live blog and our review of the show.