Tag: Wwe Rivals

WWE on A&E ratings: Biography viewership up, demo down

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Sunday night’s episode of Biography: WWE Legends (focused on D-Generation X) averaged 594,000 viewers on A&E, up 1.4 percent from last week. That matches July’s Goldberg documentary for the best viewership of the current season.

In the 18-49 demo, Biography finished 24th on the cable charts with a 0.15 rating. That’s down 11.8 percent from last week but is the third-highest rating of season two thus far.

WWE Rivals, which immediately followed Biography on A&E and highlighted the Triple H vs. Mick Foley feud, averaged 431,000 viewers. That’s down 11.7 percent from last week but is still the second-best viewership for an episode of the series to date.

Rivals finished 28th on the cable charts with a 0.13 rating in 18-49. That’s down 13.3 percent from last week and is Rivals’ third-highest rating of the series.

Biography and Rivals both went up against Sunday Night Baseball, which featured two of MLB’s biggest drawing teams in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The baseball game topped the cable charts with a 0.40 rating in 18-49 and averaged 1.829 million viewers overall.

WWE Smack Talk had its lowest viewership of the season, averaging 192,000 viewers for the episode that aired on A&E at 11 p.m. Eastern. That’s down 18.3 percent from last week. Smack Talk finished 101st on the cable charts with a 0.05 rating in 18-49. It’s the first time the show has finished outside the top 100, and the rating is down 16.7 percent from last week.

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

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.

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.

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.”