WWE worried that new Nielson ratings change could hinder TNA Wrestling's possible TV deal?

WWE and AEW sit at the front of the wrestling industry, which could be facing a harsh whiplash with the latest Nielsen ratings change. There is even fear in WWE's camp that this could damage TNA Wrestling's ongoing quest for a new TV deal.

Back in early September, Nielsen revealed a new era for their system, Big Data + Panel. For Nielsen, panel means the many American viewers who agreed to have their television watching habits monitored, which allowed them to estimate how many Americans were watching any program. With technological advancement, from VHS tapes to TIVO to streaming, Nielsen has updated the way it tracks viewership multiple times over the decades.

The latest system, Big Data + Panel, uses their previous data points as well as a collection of streaming data from 75+ million devices, which they get through Roku, Comcast, DirecTV, and more. While it seems like the next step to accurately account for all kinds of viewers across multiple devices and services, early numbers seem to show a negative impact on pro wrestling as a whole.

Per a Fightful Select report, this change-up may have some in WWE worried.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com

@SeanRossSapp

I spoke to a number of reps and sources at networks, and wrestling companies about the new Nielsen ratings data and what the lower readings mean for wrestling. @FightfulSelect today for subscribers!

"One WWE production source expressed concern that the new numbers and data could be used to negotiate against TNA as they try to land a new television deal."

They reached out to TNA president Carlos Silva, who recently claimed in a TV Insider interview that TNA was now negotiating with one unnamed outlet. According to them, Silva isn't worried about the change to the Nielsen ratings, and it hasn't been brought up during the negotiations.

TNA and NXT will "go to war" this Tuesday.

How have WWE and AEW looked following Nielsen's switch to Big Data + Panel?

Despite how some look at TV ratings as archaic, WWE and AEW publicly boast their numbers, as any other company would with their programming, wrestling, or otherwise.

Wrestlenomics

@wrestlenomics

Nielsen has changed how TV ratings are measured. Here's what it means for wrestling programs. The era of Big Data + Panel is upon us. Some shows might measure generally lower (or higher), complicating comparisons.

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics covered how these changes affected NXT and AEW last week. Per the report, the September 23rd NXT dropped 13% with a 28% drop in the P18-49 demographic.

AEW's September 24th Dynamite also saw a dip, a 13% overall drop with the P18-49 demo 20% lower. Oddly enough, Collision only dropped 5% but was actually a point higher in the ratings.

We're only a month into this updated system, so it's hard to say if this is a genuine downward trend for professional wrestling or if we're too early in the game to get anything concrete. Fightful Select also reached out to a source at WBD, who claimed it was "too small a sample size."