MLW’s viewership rating for Underground continued to decline for the fourth week in a row. The February 28th show garnered a 0.01 rating in the key 18-49 demographic and 50,000 viewers, down by 0.02 and 48.5% respectively from last week’s 0.03 demographic rating and 97,000 viewers.
This week’s figures are the lowest for MLW Underground to date, with the previous lows being the February 14th episode which managed a 0.02 demo rating and 73,000 viewers. According to Showbuzz Daily, MLW Underground failed to rank in the top 150 cable originals for the night.
MLW Underground is now averaging a 0.023 rating in the key 18-49 demographic and 75,000 viewers between the two episodes aired thus far.
As we reported earlier this week here on eWn, REELZ has signed a deal to have a live feed on Peacock that began on Thursday. The deal does not include the 10 PM Tuesday night airing of MLW Underground, as WWE has exclusivity with Peacock in terms of wrestling content. It was later reported that MLW Underground’s run on REELZ will be ending after 10 weeks. REELZ later issued the following statement:
“No decisions have been made by MLW or REELZ and we are both committed to a good outcome for MLW, its fans and REELZ.”
PWInsider reports that according to sources, the deal between REELZ and MLW isn’t a 10-week deal, rather it’s an open-ended deal with MLW episodes delivered on a weekly basis.
Since REELZ has promoted MLW heavily, it wouldn’t make sense to drop the ball so early considering how much they have invested in the project. It is unknown how much REELZ’ deal with Peacock is worth and whether it would lead the channel to push MLW aside in order to fetch a bigger audience for the platform.
REELZ’s statement “did not make anyone believe” that the network was standing in MLW’s corner. It is possible that REELZ opts out of the deal or moves MLW to a timeslot when the Peacock stream isn’t active, but the report that the show was intended to be a limited run is completely inaccurate.
REELZ still has the MLW episodes internally listed for Tuesday at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT from next week through April 25th. The schedule also includes the upcoming War Chamber taping on April 18th and the upcoming Battle Riot V event on April 25th. Classic episodes of MLW airing at 11 PM are also still scheduled as of this writing.
