The debut of MLW on Reelz last night prompts us to revisit the subject of TV network household coverage. It’s important to consider because the number of homes a network is available in naturally influences the number of viewers who end up watching a given program.
According to Nielsen estimates as of this month, WWE and AEW programs still have the widest coverage, reaching more than 70 million traditional TV homes on USA Network, TNT, and TBS.
Reelz is in 37.9 million traditional TV homes, slightly more than AXS TV, where Impact Wrestling and New Japan air in 35 million.
By a factor of three, Reelz is an improvement in reach from BeIN Sports, where MLW was available in 10.8 million. MLW doesn’t appear on the schedule on the BeIN Sports website, so it’s unclear if the promotion’s programs will continue airing on BeIN Sports.
WWE programming on A&E, like the Legends Biography series, is available in 67.8 million traditional TV homes.
VICE, which recently aired the Tales from the Territories series, is in 49.7 million.
This data doesn’t include households that may have access to a given network via a vMVPD subscription like YouTube TV, Sling, or Hulu Live TV. According to LRG Research, vMVPD services accounted for 8 million U.S. households in the third quarter of 2022.
Brandon Thurston
brandon@wrestlenomics.com