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Eric Bischoff, known for not holding back when criticizing AEW, has come out with a strong statement. In the latest episode of his podcast 83 Weeks, the former WCW president stated that AEW Dynamite will end up averaging just 300,000 viewers if the company doesn't manage to reverse its downward trend.
The comment arose following the September 3 edition of Dynamite, which drew 472,000 viewers, one of the lowest figures in the show's history. Bischoff took the opportunity to recall an analysis he made almost a year ago, where he noticed that AEW was losing between 22 and 23% of its annual audience. With that data, he made a simple projection that anticipated a drop to 500,000 viewers by the end of 2025, something that - according to him - has already come true.
"It's obvious to everyone," he pointed out. "Eight months ago, I sat down with a glass of cheap wine and an 8-dollar calculator. I checked the ratings from the last two years and saw they were losing an average of 22 or 23% of their audience each year. I crunched the numbers and it came out that, if they didn't turn it around, they would be around half a million viewers in a year, and around 300,000 by the end of their TV contract. In November 2024, I said that a year later they would be close to 500,000... and I was right." Bischoff also took a jab at Dave Meltzer, stating that someone who studies the business so much should have recognized such a simple equation.
Dave (Meltzer), it's not complicated at all. You just have to do the math. You don't need to study, you just have to do it. I did it and it worked out...
Bischoff's words once again bring attention to the future of AEW on television. Tony Khan's company, which debuted in 2019 with weekly viewership numbers over a million, now faces a more complex scenario in the midst of rising competition with WWE and its counterprogramming policy. For many fans, Bischoff's criticism is an exaggeration; for others, it's a warning that the company shouldn't ignore.
