Power Slap’s weak ratings slightly improve, squanders record lead-in
Week 6 of Dana White’s Power Slap league lost more than 700,000 viewers from AEW Wrestling lead-in
With no NBA basketball on the schedule on Wednesday, the 8 p.m. TBS broadcast of AEW Wrestling was the evening’s No. 1 rated cable show. The broadcast drew a rating of .35 in the 18-49 demographic and a viewership of 1,028,000. Despite having its biggest lead in numbers since premiering on January 18, 2023, Dana White’s Power Slap struggled to hold on to those viewers, posting a rating of .10 on the night with viewers between 18-49. White’s slap fighting league had an audience of 309,000 for its week six broadcast.
According to ShowBuzzDaily, Power Slap’s rating improved from .09 last week. However, when considering the massive lead-in from AEW, Power Slap set a new high in the number of viewers that tuned out. Power Slap lost 709,000 viewers from the wrestling broadcast. The previous high number of lost viewers for the broadcast came on Week 1, when Power Slap lost 674,000 of AEW’s 969,000 viewers.
Power Slap’s best week came on Week 2 when it had a .13 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 413,000 viewers. The slap fighting broadcast was the No. 30 show on cable that night. However, it should be noted that AEW Wrestling provided a fantastic lead-in for the 10 p.m. Power Slap broadcast that night with 1.003 million viewers.
White’s foray into a new sport, which TBS delayed broadcasting for a week after White was caught on video slapping his wife, while on a family vacation in Mexico, has struggled to hold on to viewers:
Week 1: 295,000 viewers, 0.10 share, No 45. rated program for the night.
Week 2: 413,000 viewers, 0.13 share, No. 30 rated program for the night.
Week 3: 284,000 viewers, 0.09 share, No. 51 rated program for the night.
Week 4: 275,000 viewers, 0.08 share, No. 68 rated program for the night.
Week 5: 275,000 viewers, 0.09 share, No. 55 rated program for the night.
Prior to last week’s broadcast, , New Jersey’s Ninth District Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. and Nebraska’s Second District Representative Don Bacon reached out to TBS and Warner Bros. Discovery regarding their involvement in “The Power Slap,” asking, “Where are the warnings to this mindless violence? Traumatic brain injury isn’t entertainment.”