As soon as Turner Sports announced a deal to begin broadcasting NHL games this season, to go along with its NBA broadcast rights, it was inevitable that AEW programming would be affected. The first shoe to drop was Dynamite switching from TNT to TBS, and now Rampage is feeling the effects of both leagues’ postseasons as well.
With its normal 10 p.m. ET time slot prime territory for playoff games, Rampage switched to a much earlier 5:30 p.m. ET slot for its May 6 show. Today, Tony Khan announced on Busted Open that the next two episodes of Rampage will be moving up as well:
- The May 13 episode of Rampage will start the same time as the previous week at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT, due to NHL playoff games in prime time.
- The May 20 episode of Rampage will air at 7:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. CT — though in this case it’s the NBA Playoffs necessitating the move.
Though it’s the ultimate small sample size, early returns suggest that the 5:30 ET spot is not good for Rampage, which makes sense it’s barely at the end of a stereotypical work day in the east. Last week’s Rampage drew all-time lows in both total viewers and the vitally important 18-49 demographic, and there’s no reason to think it might not challenge those depths again this Friday.
The NBA has been especially tough competition for wrestling shows across the board this spring, with viewers tuning in to see postseason basketball in numbers not seen in a decade or more. There’s not a whole lot AEW can do except weather the storm until the summer, and it’s fortunate Dynamite has a secure Wednesday night slot on TBS. The number of conflicts will also decrease as the NBA and NHL get closer to their championships and the total number of games to air in each round is less, but until then, expect Rampage to keep getting shuffled around from week to week.