Nielsen's methodology to determine TV ratings has changed beginning October 1 and wrestling shows in particular have been hit hard in a negative way even though other sports programming has virtually been unaffected leaving everyone confused.
Now, one of WWE's partners - The CW Network which airs NXT weekly - has gone public with a statement expressing their frustration at the way Nielsen has gone about the change, claiming it is using a flawed methodology.
The following is a statement that CW sent to Wrestlenomics while a spokeperson also noted that they have gone to Nielsen to express “our deep frustration with the way it handled the process, communication, and methodology behind its Big Data rollout.”
"The sudden and substantial discrepancy in WWE NXT viewership reported by Big Data, relative to long-established viewing patterns, is inexplicable and lacks credibility. Further, a comparison with data from all other measurement products (including others from Nielsen itself) exposes a fundamentally flawed methodology in Big Data. We are disappointed by Nielsen’s lack of cooperation, transparency, and accountability with its network partners as we work to resolve this issue."
According to Wrestlenomics, with the new method in which Nielsen measures TV metrics, WWE NXT figures are on average 9% lower in viewership, WWE Smackdown has been down about 14%, AEW Dynamite is down approximately 9% and Collision is down about 6%. The drops in the 18-49 key demo rating have been even greater, with NXT, Smackdown and Dynamite also experiencing double digit percentage drops.
