NXT is officially moving to Tuesday nights as part of a new multi-year deal that keeps the black and gold brand on the USA Network.
After weeks of speculation surrounding NXT’s future after WrestleMania, Variety has confirmed the deal which sees NXT begin airing on Tuesday nights from the 13th of April.
WWE’s EVP of Global Talent Strategy and Development Paul Levesque discussed the move for the brand he started:
“We now feel like we’re in a good place where we can move that consistent fanbase over to Tuesdays. We believe they’ll follow us. That way we can grow the brand more given the lead-in from Monday Night Raw, which we’ve seen in the past.”
The potential for growth is significant for NXT as it means the end of the ‘Wednesday Night Wars’ when NXT aired at the same time as AEW Dynamite.
Variety noted that Nielsen ratings for NXT on the USA Network had averaged around 840,000 total viewers per week in 2020. The number watching NXT increased up to 30% for special Tuesday night editions of the show.
As part of the new deal, episodes of NXT that air on the USA Network on Tuesday nights will be available on the Peacock streaming platform from the next day. Levesque continued, talking about the importance of Peacock going forward for NXT.
Levesque stated:
“The ability for us to be on [Peacock], a bigger platform where so many more people have the opportunity to experience it and to let it grow into something more, is very exciting. And once you sample it, we believe that the product is something that people will stick with and become involved in.”
NXT TakeOver: Stand And Deliver takes place over two nights on the 7th and 8th of April. Night one of that event will air on the USA Network. Night two then airs exclusively on Peacock in the United States. The rest of the world will be able to watch the event on the WWE Network.