AEW Collision takes big ratings hit in channel preemption

It's been a stressful season for AEW Collision, but this past week featured one of its greatest tests yet. The Saturday show faced enormous competition, and the result was a massive drop in ratings.

The latest episode of AEW Collision was preempted on its home station, TNT, and aired on TBS instead. Taking its place on TNT was the NHL playoff game between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche, as well as an NBA playoff game on ABC that averaged a staggering 5.6 million viewers.

As a result, Collision pulled in just 378,000 viewers on average, down 39% from the previous week's episode. The show scored a 0.12 rating in the key 18-49 demo, down a brutal 43% from last week's 0.21.

This marks a 19% loss against the trailing four weeks in overall viewers and an 8% drop in the key demo.

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WBD expected to mention AEW at a major event

Warner Bros. Discovery will hold its annual TV Upfronts presentation tomorrow, May 15, in New York City. The network has featured All Elite Wrestling at these events in the past, and this year will reportedly be no exception. However, it's thought that a new television deal has not been locked in between the companies yet.

AEW signed on with WBD back in 2019, and the two have enjoyed a close relationship in the years since, with the entertainment giant extending the young promotion's contract at least once already. Now in the final year of that deal, Tony Khan is expected to receive a renewal soon, potentially at an increased rate, but it seems that negotiations are still ongoing for now.

Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to lose its bid for the NBA to NBC, which would be a major blow to its networks. With that being the case, it will be interesting to see if All Elite Wrestling's value jumps, as the promotion's flagship show, Dynamite, is almost always rated one of the top original programs on Wednesday nights.