Strong lead-in helps boost WWE Backstage viewership up 74 percent

This week’s episode of WWE Backstage drew the show’s second-best viewership since it premiered in its regular time slot.

Backstage averaged 169,000 viewers on FS1 last night, which was up 74 percent from the 97,000 viewers it did last week. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.06, up from last week’s 0.05.

This week’s Backstage began at 11:15 p.m. Eastern time and had a strong lead-in. The second and final day of this year’s Westminster Dog Show averaged 1.089 million viewers on FS1 and did a 0.17 rating in 18-49.

The Dog Show began at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and ended when Backstage began.

CM Punk returned to the Backstage panel last night, making his fourth appearance as an analyst. The best viewership the show has averaged in its normal time slot remains the 180,000 viewers it did on November 19, where Punk officially debuted on Backstage after making a surprise appearance the previous week.

Charlotte Flair was the in-studio guest on Backstage last night.

Here’s a look at Backstage’s viewership since its official premiere:

November 5 — 49,000 viewers 
November 12 — 100,000 viewers
November 19 — 180,000 viewers
November 26 — 121,000 viewers
December 3 –138,000 viewers
December 10 — 127,000 viewers
December 17 — 95,000 viewers
December 24 — 153,000 viewers
December 31 — 97,000 viewers
January 7 — 124,000 viewers
January 14 — 84,000 viewers
January 21 — 111,000 viewers
January 28 — 97,000 viewers
February 4 — 97,000 viewers
February 11 — 169,000 viewers