Folks, they said it couldn’t be done. They said AEW Dynamite was “struggling” in the ratings. They said the only thing popping on Wednesday nights was the popcorn. But guess what? With the power of streaming wizardry, cable synergy, and a sprinkle of Tony Khan’s limitless optimism (and maybe caffeine), AEW Dynamite is reportedly pulling in over one million viewers per week since it debuted on Max.
Yes, Max. The app formerly known as HBO Max, not to be confused with Max the wrestler (who may also be streaming, but usually just insults).
According to B.J. Bethel of SEScoops, Dynamite is pulling in around 500,000 viewers on Max alone — and when you tag that onto their TBS cable numbers, we’re talking big league totals. Over a million. Sometimes even 1.2 million. That’s like if every wrestling fan in a mid-sized state got together every Wednesday night, turned on the TV and said, “Yup, we’re doin’ this.”
Max measures viewership using the “Live-Plus-1” metric — which means it counts people who watch live and those who watch up to 24 hours later, presumably while eating leftover pizza and tweeting about how Darby Allin is either a future world champ or future ghost.
They’re clocking 60 million minutes watched per show. Sixty. Million. That’s more screen time than your aunt Karen spent rewatching The Golden Bachelor. And some episodes reportedly even outperformed major hockey games on Max. Yes, AEW is officially body-slamming the NHL — but only digitally, so Canada doesn’t riot.
Even as traditional cable ratings dipped, the suits at Warner Bros. Discovery were seen nodding approvingly while swimming in Max data. According to Andrew Zarian, WBD’s attitude toward AEW ratings chatter was basically:
“They don’t care. It doesn’t even resonate.”
Translation: The vibes are immaculate.
Meanwhile, AEW Collision — Dynamite’s weekend sibling who swears it’s just “more chill” — is quietly getting its groove back on TNT. Especially when it gets the sweet, sweet college basketball lead-in. Because nothing says “time for a piledriver” like following a buzzer-beater.
So while Nielsen still tries to count people like it’s 2006, AEW is living in the future — where the app knows what you watched, when you watched it, and what color socks you wore.