Tag: wwe biography

WWE on A&E ratings up for Lex Luger Biography

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Sunday night’s episode of Biography: WWE Legends, focused on Lex Luger, averaged 586,000 viewers on A&E. That’s up 44.3 percent from last week’s special on Kurt Angle and is the second-highest viewership total of season two to date.

In the 18-49 demo, Biography: WWE Legends finished 13th on the Sunday cable charts with a 0.17 rating. That’s up 54.5 percent from last week and is the highest demo rating since season one’s documentary on Bret Hart.

WWE Rivals, which immediately follows Biography on A&E, featured the WWE vs. WCW feud. The episode averaged 488,000 viewers, the highest to date for the series. It was 15.4 percent higher than the Rock vs. Austin episode from two weeks ago, which was previously the best-viewed episode.

Rivals drew a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demo and finished 20th on the cable charts. That’s up 66.7 percent from last week and is also the highest number for the show to date.

WWE Smack Talk, which airs after Rivals, averaged 235,000 viewers and drew a 0.06 rating in 18-49 to finish 66th on the charts. That’s up slightly from the 208,000 viewers and 0.06 demo rating the show drew last week.

Listed below are the overall viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for all episodes of Biography: WWE Legends and WWE Rivals to date.

WWE on A&E ratings down for Kurt Angle Biography

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Sunday night’s episode of Biography: WWE Legends (focused on Kurt Angle) averaged 406,000 viewers on A&E, down 3.3 percent from last week. It’s the lowest audience to date for the series.

Biography finished 32nd on the cable charts with a 0.11 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s also a series low and is down 8.3 percent from last week.

Immediately following Biography was the latest episode of WWE Rivals, highlighting the feud between Angle and Brock Lesnar. That show averaged 361,000 viewers, which was down 14.7 percent from last week.

Rivals finished 39th on the cable charts with a 0.09 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 40 percent from last week. Both the total audience and 18-49 demo numbers are series lows.

WWE Smack Talk, which followed Rivals, averaged 208,000 viewers and finished 72nd on cable with a 0.06 rating in 18-49. That’s down slightly from the 212,000 and 0.07 demo rating that the show did last week.

Listed below are the total viewers and 18-49 demo ratings for both Biography: WWE Legends and WWE Rivals to date.

WWE on A&E ratings: Biography down, Rivals up

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Sunday night’s episode of Biography: WWE Legends (focused on the Bella Twins) averaged 420,000 viewers on A&E, down 29.3 percent from the previous week’s Goldberg documentary. It’s the lowest audience total of the 11 WWE Biography episodes that A&E has produced.

In the 18-49 demo, the Bellas Biography finished 30th on cable with a 0.12 rating, down 25 percent from last week. That’s also the lowest demo rating the WWE Biography series has ever done. 

What was surprising is that the episode of WWE Rivals, chronicling the rivalry between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock, finished ahead of Biography in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo. The WWE Rivals episode aired immediately after Biography.

The Rivals episode averaged 423,000 viewers, up 8.5 percent from the previous week. It’s the highest audience for any of the three Rivals episodes to date. Rivals finished 20th on cable and was fifth in its time slot with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 36.4 percent from last week. That show has increased in both total viewers and 18-49 every week so far.

WWE Smack Talk, which airs after Rivals, averaged 212,000 viewers and drew a 0.07 rating in 18-49. That’s down 10.5 percent in viewers but up 16.7 percent in 18-49 from the previous week. 

Listed below are the viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for both Biography and Rivals for each episode that has aired so far.

WWE on A&E ratings up for Goldberg Biography

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Sunday night’s Biography: WWE Legends documentary, which was focused on Goldberg, averaged 594,000 viewers on A&E. That’s up 2.1 percent from the previous week’s season two premiere on The Undertaker.

It’s the third-lowest audience for a WWE Biography episode, beating the Undertaker documentary and a season one documentary on Mick Foley.

Biography finished 11th on the cable charts with a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 14.3 percent from last week. Both weeks of this season have been below all of season one in the key demo.

The Goldberg Biography finished fifth in its time slot in 18-49. 

The second episode of WWE Rivals (focused on The Undertaker vs. Kane) averaged 390,000 viewers on A&E and drew a 0.11 rating in the 18-49 demo. The latter number placed the show 22nd on the cable charts in the demo on Sunday, and Rivals was fifth in its time slot. That’s up from last week’s premiere episode on the Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels rivalry, which averaged 368,000 viewers and drew a 0.10 rating.

The second episode of WWE Smack Talk, which followed Rivals on A&E, averaged 237,000 viewers and drew a 0.06 rating in 18-49. It was up in total viewers from the 222,000 viewers the show averaged last week but down from the 0.07 rating the premiere drew in 18-49.

Smack Talk was fourth in its time slot in 18-49.

Listed below are the overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for each episode of Biography: WWE Legends to date.

Ratings for return of WWE on A&E programming block

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

WWE’s programming block on A&E returned on Sunday night, featuring a new season of Biography: WWE Legends and the premiere of two new series.

Sunday’s Biography: WWE Legends documentary on The Undertaker averaged 582,000 viewers on A&E. That’s down about 20 percent from the average of the eight episodes that aired during the first season in 2021. The only episode to finish with fewer total viewers was a Biography on Mick Foley, which averaged 520,000.

The Undertaker Biography finished 17th on the cable charts on Sunday with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down almost 50 percent from the 0.27 rating in that category that the first season averaged.

Immediately following the Undertaker special was the premiere of WWE Rivals, with the debut episode chronicling the feud between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. That show averaged 368,000 viewers overall and drew a 0.10 rating in 18-49, good for 29th on the cable charts.

The Biography documentary and WWE Rivals both finished fourth in their respective time slots.

WWE Smack Talk, which premiered following Rivals, averaged 222,000 viewers overall and drew a 0.07 rating in 18-49. That ranked 50th on the charts for the day and was also fourth in its time slot. Smack Talk is a post-show for Biography and WWE Rivals.

The Undertaker to kick off second season of A&E Biography: WWE Legends

Posted on by Josh Nason

When A&E’s second season of Biography: WWE Legends kicks off on Sunday, July 10th, it will do so with a two-hour episode on The Undertaker.

According to their schedule on that day, there will be four hours of WWE lead-in programming with a WWE Hidden Treasures episode on Jerry Lawler and previous Legends episodes on Steve Austin, Booker T and Shawn Michaels.

Following the two-hour debut, the new show WWE Rivals will debut with a one-hour episode focusing on Michaels vs. Bret Hart.

Following that, A&E will air WWE Smack Talk with Booker T and Peter Rosenberg discussing The Undertaker documentary with special guest Glen “Kane” Jacobs.

The partnership between WWE and A&E was first announced in 2019 with Biography episodes on Austin, Michaels, Booker T, Roddy Piper and Randy Savage. 

In March of this year, the two sides announced a multi-year expanded partnership for 130 hours of content that includes 35 new Biography episodes, 24 new episodes of WWE Hidden Treasures, and 40 episodes of WWE Rivals.

WWE on A&E programming block returning next month

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s original programming block is making its return to A&E next month.

It was announced today that nine weeks of all-new WWE-themed programming will air on A&E starting on Sunday, July 10. The programming block will include the second season of “Biography: WWE Legends,” a new show called “WWE Rivals,” and a new after show named “WWE Smack Talk.”

The Biography episodes will air on Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern time. This season will have episodes focusing on The Undertaker, Goldberg, The Bella Twins, Lex Luger, Edge, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, D-Generation X, and the first WrestleMania.

WWE Rivals will then air at 10 p.m. Eastern. The show will be hosted by actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr.

Actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. leads a roundtable discussion of WWE luminaries to delve into the storylines and dynamic characters behind the epic battles that built WWE. Each one-hour episode features archival footage from WWE’s library as well as interviews with the Legends involved and the Superstars who watched these rivalries unfold. Rivalries featured this season include ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin vs. The Rock, Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker vs. Kane, John Cena vs. Edge and the ‘Monday Night Wars’ between WCW and WWE.

WWE Smack Talk will begin at 11 p.m. Eastern. Booker T, Peter Rosenberg, and Jackie Redmond will be the hosts of the half-hour after show. They’ll be joined by WWE legends, current wrestlers, and other celebrity guests to break down that night’s Biography and Rivals episodes. They will also reveal new information that didn’t make the cut.

WWE and A&E announced this March that they had agreed to an expanded multi-year extension of their programming partnership. The extension will include 130 hours of new WWE-themed programming airing on A&E.

WWE and A&E announce expanded programming partnership, new series to debut

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE and A&E have announced an expansion of their programming partnership.

The multi-year expansion will see more than 130 new hours of WWE-themed programming air on A&E. That includes the return of “Biography: WWE Legends” and “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures,” along with the debut of a new series tentatively named “WWE Rivals.”

A&E has ordered 35 new Biography episodes and 24 new episodes of Most Wanted Treasures. The Most Wanted Treasures episodes will air over multiple seasons.

Biography documentaries focused on Steve Austin, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, The Ultimate Warrior, Mick Foley, and Bret Hart aired in 2021.

The first season of Most Wanted Treasures was hosted by AJ Francis (Hit Row member Top Dolla), who was released by WWE last November. The show, which features WWE wrestlers and legends, “takes viewers on a journey to find some of WWE’s most iconic, lost memorabilia.”

WWE Rivals is the working title of the new series. It’s been given a 40-hour order.

WWE Rivals will “chronicle the little-known stories behind the biggest clashes in WWE history. The episodes will include revelatory insights from those who were a part of the rivalries that often extended far beyond the ring and the cameras.”

The press release announcing the expanded partnership between WWE and A&E also noted that additional hours of original programming are also currently in development.

“A&E is an amazing partner with an impressive lineup of signature series across its networks,” said Nick Khan, WWE President. “The expansion of our partnership will allow us to continue creating a massive slate of new content with a trusted partner, while further establishing A&E as a destination for WWE fans for years to come.”

“The collaboration between these two powerhouse brands has already proven to resonate with audiences and we look forward to working together to create premium content with broad appeal,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for A&E. “WWE’s incredible fanbase and talent roster are a great complement to A&E’s unique brand of in-depth storytelling that take fans behind the curtain and we are thankful to the entire WWE team for their partnership.”

Ratings for WWE-A&E Booker T Biography, Most Wanted Treasures

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s programming block on A&E saw a viewership drop on Sunday night.

A&E’s Booker T Biography documentary averaged 595,000 viewers on Sunday, down from the 790,000 viewers that the previous week’s Randy Savage Biography averaged. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.24, down from last week’s 0.31 rating.

The Booker T Biography ranked 17th for the day on cable on Sunday. The Savage documentary had ranked seventh for the day on cable.

Episode four of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, which aired immediately after the Biography documentary and was also focused on Booker T, averaged 555,000 viewers on Sunday. That’s down from the 563,000 viewers that last week’s episode averaged.

In the 18-49 demo, WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures was even with last week. The show drew a 0.22 rating and ranked 20th for the day. Last week’s episode drew a 0.22 rating and ranked 12th.

Here’s a look at the ratings for WWE’s programming block on A&E since it began:

Biography —

  • Steve Austin: 1.062 million viewers (0.38 rating in 18-49)
  • Roddy Piper: 880,000 viewers (0.27 rating in 18-49)
  • Randy Savage: 790,000 viewers (0.31 rating in 18-49)
  • Booker T: 595,000 viewers (0.24 rating in 18-49)

WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures —

  • Episode one (Mick Foley): 766,000 viewers (0.29 rating in 18-49)
  • Episode two (The Undertaker & Kane): 769,000 viewers (0.27 rating in 18-49)
  • Episode three (Jerry Lawler): 563,000 viewers (0.22 rating in 18-49)
  • Episode four (Booker T): 555,000 viewers (0.22 rating in 18-49)

Shawn Michaels will be the subject of this coming Sunday’s Biography documentary on A&E. Episode five of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures will feature Sgt. Slaughter looking for Iron Sheik memorabilia.

Ratings for WWE-A&E Macho Man Biography, Most Wanted Treasures

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE and A&E’s “Macho Man” Randy Savage Biography ranked in the top 10 of cable on Sunday.

The Savage Biography documentary averaged 790,000 viewers on A&E, down from the 880,000 viewers that the previous week’s Roddy Piper Biography averaged. But while viewership was down, the rating in the 18-49 demo was up to a 0.31. The Piper Biography had drawn a 0.27 rating in the demo.

In 18-49, the Savage Biography ranked seventh for the day on cable. The Piper Biography ranked 10th the previous Sunday.

The third episode of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, which was focused on Jerry “The King” Lawler memorabilia, averaged 563,000 viewers on A&E on Sunday. That’s down from the 769,000 viewers the show averaged the previous week. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.22, down from the previous week’s 0.27. It ranked 12th for the day on cable in 18-49.

The previous week’s Most Wanted Treasures episode was focused on Undertaker & Kane memorabilia. It ranked 11th for the day in 18-49.

Here’s a look at the ratings for WWE’s programming block on A&E since it began:

Biography —

  • Steve Austin: 1.062 million viewers (0.38 rating in 18-49)
  • Roddy Piper: 880,000 viewers (0.27 rating in 18-49)
  • Randy Savage: 790,000 viewers (0.31 rating in 18-49)

WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures —

  • Episode one (Mick Foley): 766,000 viewers (0.29 rating in 18-49)
  • Episode two (The Undertaker & Kane): 769,000 viewers (0.27 rating in 18-49)
  • Episode three (Jerry Lawler): 563,000 viewers (0.22 rating in 18-49)

This coming Sunday’s Biography and Most Wanted Treasures episodes will both be focused on Booker T. The Biography documentary premieres at 8 p.m. Eastern time, with Most Wanted Treasures starting at 10:02 p.m. Eastern.

Ratings for WWE-A&E Roddy Piper Biography, Most Wanted Treasures

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The second week of WWE’s programming block on A&E ranked 10th and 11th on cable on Sunday.

A&E’s Roddy Piper Biography averaged 880,000 viewers on Sunday night, down from the 1.062 million viewers that the previous week’s Steve Austin Biography averaged. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.27. That’s down from the 0.38 rating that the Austin Biography drew.

The Piper Biography ranked 10th for the day on cable on Sunday. The Austin Biography had ranked sixth for the day on cable.

WWE president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan said on last week’s WWE financial call that the Austin documentary was A&E’s highest-rated Biography in 16 years.

WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, which aired its second episode after the Piper Biography, averaged 769,000 viewers. That’s up slightly from the 766,000 viewers that the show’s premiere averaged the previous week. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.27, down slightly from the premiere’s 0.29 rating. That tied the Piper Biography and ranked 11th for the day in 18-49.

The premiere of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures also ranked 11th for the day the previous Sunday. The premiere episode was focused on Mick Foley, while the second episode was focused on The Undertaker and Kane.

Week three of WWE’s programming partnership with A&E will air this coming Sunday. A Biography documentary on Randy Savage will premiere at 8 p.m. Eastern time, followed by episode three of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures airing at 10:01 p.m. Eastern. The Most Wanted Treasures episode will be focused on Jerry Lawler.

Ratings for WWE-A&E Steve Austin Biography, Most Wanted Treasures

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The debut of WWE’s programming block on A&E ranked sixth and 11th on cable respectively on Sunday.

A&E’s Steve Austin Biography documentary, which premiered at 8 p.m. Eastern time, averaged 1.062 million viewers. It drew a 0.38 rating in the 18-49 demo, trailing 90 Day Fiance, an afternoon NBA game, Real Housewives of Atlanta, Food Network’s Tournament of Champions, and Sunday Night Baseball for the day.

The premiere of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures aired at 10 p.m. Eastern on A&E. It averaged 766,000 viewers overall and drew a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demo. The show ranked 11th for the day on cable in 18-49.

Here are detailed demographic ratings for both programs:

Steve Austin Biography —

  • People 18-49: 0.38
  • Women 18-49: 0.29
  • Men 18-49: 0.48
  • People 18-34: 0.20
  • Females 12-34: 0.12
  • Males 12-34: 0.20
  • People 25-54: 0.52
  • People over 50: 0.44

WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures —

  • People 18-49: 0.29
  • Women 18-49: 0.21
  • Men 18-49: 0.37
  • People 18-34: 0.15
  • Females 12-34: 0.10
  • Males 12-34: 0.15
  • People 25-54: 0.41
  • People over 50: 0.32

WWE’s 10-week programming partnership with A&E will also include Biography documentaries on Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Ultimate Warrior, Mick Foley, and Bret Hart. WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures is a nine-episode series that “takes viewers on a journey to find some of WWE’s most iconic, lost memorabilia.”