**NXT's Move to The CW Proves a Milestone Hit**

WWE's NXT has made a successful transition to The CW this fall, becoming a heavyweight in the network's lineup. The show, which transferred from USA Network under a five-year agreement starting this month, saw its viewership soar. According to live + same-day Nielsen data, NXT drew an impressive 895,000 total viewers during its debut on Tuesday, a 44% increase compared to the previous week's episode on USA Network.

The episode reached a peak audience of 965,000 total viewers between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m. ET, making it The CW's most-watched telecast of the year among adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. These figures represent 406,000 and 354,000 viewers in those respective demographics. This success also contributed to The CW's 143% increase over its Tuesday primetime season average.

While USA Network bid farewell to NXT, it welcomed SmackDown to its schedule. SmackDown has thrived in its new cable home, ranking as the top cable show twice in its first three weeks. The wrestling program's debut on USA Network attracted 1.7 million viewers, including 731,000 from the 18-49 demographic.

SmackDown's performance continued strong, even when going head-to-head with Fox's telecast of the Washington-Rutgers game. SmackDown secured 602,000 viewers in the 18-49 demo, compared to 512,000 for Fox's Big 10 football coverage. Remarkably, SmackDown maintained its momentum with a 5% increase in total viewers from the previous week, reaching 1.57 million, close to Fox's 1.93 million for the football game, despite USA Network's smaller reach of about 70 million homes compared to Fox's 120 million.

The transition of these wrestling programs to new networks indicates their solid and growing fan bases, and their ability to draw significant viewership even in competitive environments.