For the third consecutive quarter AEW Dynamite had the highest Net Promoter Score among the programs measured, scoring a +0.58 for responses collected June 24 to July 1. Dynamite was followed in the same order as prior studies, by WWE programs NXT (+0.48), Smackdown (+0.19), and lastly Raw which had a negative score (-0.06). The highest possible score is +1.00, the lowest, -1.00.
This quarter’s set of responses was less positive in most cases, and sentiment for Raw and Smackdown declined strongly from the previous quarter-year, when Raw scored +0.26 and Smackdown, +0.50. NXT and Dynamite were down several points, too, from +0.61 and +0.68, respectively.
A Net Promoter Score study, which is used in many businesses, asks respondents how likely they would be to recommend a product they use (in this case various wrestling programs) to a friend. The metric is believed to be a strong predictor of revenue growth potential.
In our methodology, likelihood to recommend is measured using a 0 to 5 scale, with “0” meaning the respondent “definitely would not recommend” and a “5” indicating they “definitely would”. Net Promoter Score is then calculated by subtracting the percentage of responses answering 0 to 3 (“detractors”) from the percentage of responses answering 5 (“promoters”). Responses of 4 (“passives”) are not included in the formula. This methodology differs from most NPS studies, which use a 10-point scale. We continue to use a 5-point scale because it allows us to give subjects a more readable survey form. We might use a 10-point scale in the future.
Responses were gathered independently by Wrestlenomics, using a Facebook ad. The ad was targeted only at users from the United States. Responses were counted as valid for these results only if the subject selected “United States”, from a set of other options, as the country they currently live in. The ad was also served to users on Instagram, which accounted for 9% of responses.
Thanks to support from Wrestlenomics subscribers, we spent more on this quarter’s ad, which resulted in more samples being collected than in previous studies. Samples for regular viewers referenced above ranged between 218 (for NXT) and 307 (for Smackdown).
Responses were not gathered through our own organic sharing of the survey form, as we believe this would result in more biased responses. It was possible though for users on Facebook to share the promoted ad post.
We choose to emphasize regular current viewers separately from occasional current or lapsed viewers. Presumably regular current viewers are most engaged and aware of what each program currently has to offer. Regular viewers’ responses also skew positive while occasional or lapsed viewers skew negative.
NPS results for lapsed viewers and occasional viewers are here:
A lapsed viewer is defined as one who selects the option, “I used to watch it regularly OR occasionally”, in reference to a given program.
Responses for Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling had smaller sample sizes, so it may not be fair to compare them to the four most popular programs discussed above, and it’s questionable how meaningful these results are, especially the New Japan results, which have the smallest sample sizes.
Survey response results were adjusted for disparities in gender and race relative to known demographic makeup of major wrestling television programs.
The median age for a respondent for this quarter was 40 years old, up from 37 in the previous quarter, but down from 44 for our first study in December.
Regular viewers of WWE and AEW programs were similar in age. Regular viewers of Ring of Honor and Impact tended to be older. NXT had the youngest median response by a slight margin, the opposite of data we see from TV viewership, where NXT measures the oldest.
Example of what the ad looked like on Facebook:
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He’s also worked as an independent wrestler and trainer. For more, see our About page.
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