USA Network’s weekly WWE NXT wrestling series will move to Tuesday nights from Wednesdays beginning April 13 as part of a multi-year extension, eliminating head-to-head competition with TNT’s rival wrestling outfit All-Elite Wrestling.

The move will give USA Network  two consecutive nights of primetime WWE wrestling series, with NXT following WWE Monday Night Raw. NXT launched in September 2019 and averaged 847,000 total viewers in its Wednesday night timeslot according to USA, but faced stiff competition from TNT's upstart AEW: Dynamite series. 

All new WWE NXT episodes will be available on demand on Peacock, the day after its airing on USA Network.

Read also: WWE Network Content Available on Peacock on March 18

“We are incredibly proud of our three-decade partnership with WWE and in extending USA’s NXT deal, we are further establishing our portfolio as an unrivaled home for quality WWE content,” said NBCUniversal Chairman, Entertainment Networks Frances Berwick in a statement. “By transitioning NXT to a Tuesday timeslot where WWE has performed well in the past, we are giving our passionate fanbase more of what they love with back-to-back nights of exhilarating, live programming.”

Added WWE executive vice president of Global Talent Strategy & Development Paul Levesque: “We are thrilled to continue WWE and NBCUniversal’s longstanding partnership with the extension of NXT on USA Network. The move to Tuesdays provides a new opportunity for us to grow the NXT brand and enables our partner, USA Network, to continue to build its strong portfolio of sports and entertainment programming.”

USA Network’s WWE Monday Night Raw series was the most social television show last week, according to Nielsen.

The live, three hour show drew 2.3 million combined Facebook, Instagram and Twitter interactions to top all cable and broadcast shows for the week of March 4 to March 10, according to Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings.

ABC’s March 10 episode of American Idol was second with 1.2 million interactions, followed by ABC’s March 4 The Bachelor show, with 1 million interactions. USA’s March 5 WWE SmackDown! (954,000) and ABC’s March 6 American Idol (912,000) rounded out the top five most social TV shows of the week, according to Nielsen. 

TBS & TNT's live simulcast of the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards was the most social television show last week, according to Nielsen. 

The awards show drew 1.7 million Facebook, Instagram and Twitter interactions, topping all television shows for the week of Jan. 21-27, according to Nielsen’s social content ratings report.

USA Network’s WWE Monday Night Raw was second with 1.2 million social media interactions, followed by Fox broadcasting’s Rent, NBC’s America’s Got Talent and NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

USA’s WWE Smackdown!, the CW’s Riverdale, NBC’s This Is Us, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Univision’s Mira quien baila All Stars rounded out the top 10, according to Nielsen. 

The WWE’s two primetime franchises WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown! pinned down the most social media interactions of any television shows last week, according to Nielsen.

The pro wrestling outfit’s Jan. 14 WWE Monday Night Raw telecast drew 2.6 million combined Facebook, Twitter and Instagram interactions during the week of Jan. 14 to Jan. 20, according to Nielsen’s weekly Social Content Ratings report. The WWE’s Jan. 15 SmackDown! episode finished second for the week with 1.4 million interactions.

NBC’s America’s Got Talent was third with 1.2 million interactions, followed by The CW’s Riverdale and NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, according to Nielsen.

Sunday’s two NFL Championship playoff telecasts dominated social media chatter for live sports events during the week. CBS’s New England Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs AFC championship game garnered a whopping 10 million social media interactions, while Fox’s Los Angeles Rams-New Orleans Saints game pulled in some 7.1 million Facebook, Instagram and Twitter interactions, according to Nielsen. 

Last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw episode on USA Network drew nearly 3 million social media interactions, said Nielsen.

The show averaged 2.8 million Facebook, Instagram and Twitter interactions to top all television shows on Monday, according to Nielsen's daily Social Content Ratings report.

ABC’s American Idol finished second with 739,000 interactions, followed NBC’s The Voice, Fox’s Lucifer and VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.

TNT drew more than 1 million interactions for its Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76ers (1.7 million interactions) and its San Antonio Spurs-Golden State Warriors (1.4 million) NBA Playoffs telecasts, besting all live TV sports telecasts, according to Nielsen. 

Last night’s USA Network WWE Monday Night Raw episode pinned down some impressive social media numbers, according to Nielsen.

The live, three-hour show generated 2.03 million combinned Facebook, Instagram and Twitter interactions, topping all entertainment-based shows airing on March 19, according to Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings Daily report. 

ABC’s reboot of American Idol finished a distant second, followed by VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, NBC’s The Voice and VH1’s Love & Hip Hop Miami.

ESPN’s live coverage of last night’s Cleveland Cavaliers-Milwaukee Bucks NBA game drew 2.6 million social media interactions to lead all sports programming, said Nielsen.

Last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw telecast marking the USA Network show’s 25th anniversary pinned down more than 2 million social media interactions, according to Nielsen.

The show generated 2.3 million Facebook and Twitter interactions throughout its three-hour episode last night, besting all television shows, according to Nielsen’s Social content Ratings Daily Top Five list, according to Nielsen.

ABC’s The Bachelor came in a distant second with 422,000 social media interactions, followed by VH1’s Love & Hip Hop Miami and Love & Hip Hop, and Fox News Channel’s Hannity.

ESPN’s telecast of the North Carolina-Virginia Tech college basketball game was the most social live sports event for the night, according to Nielsen.

ESPN dramatic Georgia-Oklahoma Rose Bowl telecast led what were huge social media numbers for college football bowl games on New Year’s Day. 

Georgia’s double overtime win over Oklahoma to secure a spot in the College Playoff championship game generated 8.5 million Facebook and Twitter interactions to top all TV shows airing on Jan. 1, according to Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings Daily report.

ESPN’s Alabama-Clemson Sugar Bowl telecast drew 5.2 million social media interactions. Alabama defeated last year’s champion Clemson to advance to the College Playoff Championship game for the third straight year.

ESPN’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (3.1 million social media interactions), ESPN2’s Outback Bowl (1.6 million) and ABC’s Citrus Bowl (1.1 million) rounded out the top five. 

On the entertainment front, USA’s WWE Monday Night Raw was the most social show for the day, drawing 545,000 Facebook and Twitter interactions, according to Nielsen.

USA Network’s WWE Monday Night Raw series drew the most tweets of any television show on Monday, according to Nielsen.

The live, three-hour primetime show generated 143,000 tweets from 30,000 unique Twitter users, besting second place finisher, VH1’s Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, which drew 81,000 tweets, according to Nielsen’s Twitter TV Ratings report.

NBC’s The Voice was third, followed by ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and VH1’s Black Ink Crew, said network executives.

TNT’s coverage of the Oklahoma City/ San Antonio NBA playoffs game was the most tweeted live sports event, generating 340,000 tweets from 146,000 unique Twitter users, said Nielsen.

To read the headlines, operators and cable networks are on the ropes these days, given recent trends toward time-shifted viewing and its negative effect on ratings.

Still, several networks are fighting back with the power ratings punch of live ring sports.

Live boxing, pro wrestling and mixed-martial arts (MMA) programming continues to deliver healthy ratings numbers for networks like FS1, Spike TV, USA Network, Showtime and HBO as sports fans gather in front of large screen TVs to watch action-packed — and unpredictable — DVR-proof live events that help drivesocial media discussion before, during and after the fisticuffs.

Moreover, distributors are experimenting with new technologies like 4K and virtual reality for live ring sports events, while others are exploring OTT options to allow fans to watch all the action on multiple screens.

“It’s unscripted, it’s live and it’s real,” FS1 senior vice president of programming, research and content strategy Patrick Crakes said. “Two people in the ring together trying to test each other — anything can happen at any second.”

RELATED:Stepping Into the TV Ring: A Sampling of Live Ring Sports Events March 1-May 31

SPOILING FOR FIGHTS

Viewers, it turns out, like a good fight, and lots of them are tuning in to see the action. Spike TV’s Feb. 19 Kimbo Slice-Dada Bellator 149 MMA telecast drew a record 2 million viewers — the biggest audience for the general-entertainment channel this year outside of its hit series Lip Sync Battle. The event was part of the network’s Friday-night lineup of live MMA and pro boxing events.

FS1’s live Ultimate Fighting Championship telecasts in 2015 generated 15% of the network’s viewing audience, while comprising just 12% of its programming schedule, according to Crakes. In 2015, FS1’s 26 live UFC events in primetime averaged 1 million total viewers.

So far this year, four live UFC events on FS1 have averaged nearly 1 million viewers. The network is set to air live coverage of the preliminary bouts for UFC’s 12 pay-per-view events, as well as 15 additional live UFC fight cards.

“All of the network’s UFC programming is trending up year to year,” Crakes said. “It really became a phenomenon — it provides a lot of high-quality content.”

Ring sports — especially pro wrestling and MMA — draw the younger viewers who are tuning out of traditional TV programming more often than not, UFC executive vice president and chief content officer Marshall Zelaznik added.

The median age of UFC’s viewer audience is 37.8 years, which skews younger than that of the major U.S. professional sports leagues by 4.8 to 12.1 years, according to the company.

Meanwhile, boxing is gearing up to build on arguably its most successful year ever, from a pay-per-view revenue and ratings standpoint. HBO has already slated two PPV fights in 2016, the April 9 Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. fight and the May 7 Canelo Alvarez-Amir Kahn bout. It hopes to ride the coattails of last May’s record-setting Floyd Mayweather- Manny Pacquiao event — which generated more than $400 million in PPV revenues — as well as last November’s Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez bout, which drew nearly 1 million PPV buys.

RELATED:HBO's Nelson Looks to Pack a Punch in ’16

A WINNING SEASON

The mixed martial arts and pro wrestling categories are also coming off strong 2015 PPV campaigns, and are looking ahead to big revenue and buy returns this year, Mark Boccardi, In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development, said.

“Ring sports are by nature cyclical, but we’re at a point now where everything has been clicking for these distributors on PPV,” Boccardi said. “UFC had an incredible bounceback year; boxing had its best year ever, due mostly to Mayweather-Pacquiao; and with WWE we still do significant buys for those customers that aren’t subscribing to [the WWE Network over-the-top service, which carries that company’s PPV events].”

As the TV marketplace continues to evolve, network executives said, live ring sports will remain a valuable programming asset for networks looking for a relatively low-cost sports offering — compared with the billion-dollar rights fees commanded by pro sports leagues — that will deliver a unique and loyal audience.

“The value of having a cost-effective sport in today’s sports marketplace can’t be overstated,” said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president of Showtime Sports, which will mark its 30th year of championship boxing coverage in 2016. “We all know where the industry trend is going in terms of rights fees, so it seems like many programmers have discovered a relatively low-cost barrier to entrytype of sports programming.”

Indeed, networks like AXS TV have relied on live ring sports programming to help build their brand with would-be affilliates and viewers. The Mark Cuban-owned entertainment service has been offering live MMA, boxing and wrestling events on Friday nights for more than a decade.

This year, the network will air 42 live ring sports events, AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon said. The immediacy of the events, and the need to watch them as they’re happening, have helped put the network on the map.

“In today’s television world, we don’t know many people who are watching TV in real time outside of sports,” Simon said. “It’s sports that you have to watch live. You do not want to hear that Holly Holm beat Ronda Rousey and then watch a replay of the fight — you want to watch that live and then be able to join in the social engagement afterwards.”

Even pro wrestling, a heavily scripted but still action-infused genre, has benefited from providing live content to its legion of fans. USA Network continues to draw more than 4 million viewers a week for its weekly, live WWE Monday Night Raw series, which is now in its 23rd year.

The live Raw telecasts allow WWE fans to engage with must-see television every week, while affording USA Network an opportunity to showcase its other programming to pro wrestling’s loyal and committed viewer base, NBCUniversal Entertainment Networks president Chris McCumber said.

“As the most-watched regularly scheduled year-round program on cable, Monday Night Raw is an extremely valuable franchise, with three hours of live, high-octane entertainment airing on USA every Monday night, 52 weeks a year to a massive, passionate, loyal and engaged fanbase,” McCumber said in a statement.

Added WWE chief revenue and marketing officer Michelle Wilson: “While the TV landscape continues to evolve, live, DVR-proof programming remains extremely valuable to both our partners and fans. Live programming also serves as the core of engagement across digital and social platforms and drives the conversation all week long, 24/7.”

SOCIAL-MEDIA STRENGTH

Live content is also a major driver of socialmedia action. Of the 10 most-discussed TV shows on Twitter in 2015, six were live sports telecasts, according to Nielsen.

“It boosts social traffic because people are talking to each other about what they’ve seen on the live telecast,” Spike president Kevin Kay said. “If you have a great knockout or great submission, the first thing that happens is somebody says, ‘Did you see that?’ and that drives viewership and conversation on social and drives up traffic during the fight and after the fight.”

Several networks are working toward making sure viewers can see those big knockouts through technological enhancements like 4K and virtual reality.

UFC will look in the near future to implement virtual reality and 4K-enhanced video for live events offered on its Fight Pass OTT service, UFC’s Zelaznik said.

The subscription-based Fight Pass will offer live coverage of the undercard fights for UFC’s more than 41 live events, as well as more than 110 shows for non-UFC MMA events.

“We think we can provide more value to Fight Pass subscribers and continue to experiment with the new technologies,” he said. “What we can deliver digitally is really high-quality clarity.”

Executives from FS1, AXS TV and Showtime also confirmed experimentation with either or both 4K and virtual reality for their live ring-sports events.

“Virtual reality provides some real opportunities because of its ability to immerse people at home to the experience,” FS1’s Crakes said. “We always hear from our fans that they want the telecast to bring them closer to the event, and virtual reality — if we can make it work inside the home — has that potential. To be able to give everybody a ringside seat is pretty appealing.”

Even more distributors are getting into the live sports ring. Pop will offer its first live TNA Impact Wrestling telecast on March 15. It launched the pro-wrestling series, which had previously aired on Spike TV and later Destination America, in January.

“Impact Wrestling on Pop is must-watch appointment television that delivers a consistent, loyal audience every Tuesday night,” Pop president Brad Schwartz said. “It is 52 weeks a year of original content, including many weeks that are live, like the upcoming live event on March 13.”

El Rey Network may also look to develop live pro wrestling shows based on of its original wrestling series Lucha Underground, according Eric Van Wagenen, showrunner and executive producer for the Mark Burnett-produced reality series.

The sophomore series, which features Mexican pro wrestling content, deliberately does not market or promote episode highlights in advance of its premiere in an effort to replicate the excitement and must-see appeal of a live wrestling telecast.

“It’s absolutely conceivable that we would get to a point of offering a live event,” Wagenen said. “We’re taking a measured approach. The advantage of shooting a season is that it gives us an off-season — we could conceivably supplement the series with live events during that time.”

Also lacing up its live-event gloves is digital company Flipps Media, which earlier this month launched the FITE TV app offering select PPV ring sports events via mobile devices.

Just this past weekend, the service offered six live PPV combat sports events, including Ring of Honor professional wrestling and World Armwrestling Championship events that were also distributed by In Demand, DirecTV and Dish Network.

The FITE TV app can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Play, and provides users the option of streaming a live show on a phone or connecting directly to a Smart TV, FITE senior vice president of marketing Michael Weber said.

Along with live PPV programming, the service has deals to distribute free, ad-supported VOD combat sports content.

OTT IN THE RING

“You can’t be in this business doing live event PPV programming and not look for alternatives to cable and satellite,” Weber said, adding that the company is hoping to secure rights deal with other PPV event distributors.

“We all know cable subscriber numbers are shrinking every year, so this makes sense for all the programmers to be looking at new ways to deliver programming,” Weber added. “We’re not trying to replace cable, we want to supplement it.”

With networks and distributors offering content on multiple platforms, it looks like live sports programming will continue to pack a major punch in the television marketplace for several more rounds.

“There’s more content on cable and over-the-air broadcast networks than ever before,” FS1’s Crakes said. “I’m bullish on ring sports because I believe they are the cornerstone of live sports programming.”

USA Network’s Monday Night Raw telecast was last night’s most active entertainment TV show on social media, according to Nielsen.

The three-hour pro wrestling series generated 164,000 tweets reaching a unique Twitter audience of 1.7 million users, topping all television shows for the day, according to Nielsen’s Twitter TV Ratings.

VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood drew 171,000 Tweets reaching 1.3 million unique Twitter users to finish second, while NBC’s The Voice, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and Fox’s Gotham rounded out the top five shows for the night.

ESPN’s New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles Monday Night Football telecast was easily the most social sports event of the evening, generating 410,000 Tweets viewed by nearly 6 million unique Twitter users, said Nielsen.

Cable shows and specials led by Fox News’ Republican Presidential Candidate Debate dominated last week’s Twitter TV Ratings, according to Nielsen.

Thursday’s Republican Debate – which generated 24 million viewers -- drew more than 3 million Tweets that reached more than 9.2 million unique Twitter users to top all TV shows for the period of Aug. 3 to Aug. 9, said Nielsen.

Jon Stewart’s final episode as host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show on Aug. 6 drew 233,000 tweets across 4.2 million Twitter users to finished second for the week. Overall, the show generated 3.5 million viewers. 

ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, USA Network’s WWE Monday Night Raw and HBO’s True Detective finish among the top five series and specials for the week, according to Nielsen.

Syfy tonight (Oct. 10) will televise the 15th anniversary episode of the WWE’s weekly series SmackDown, the network said Friday.

SmackDown, the second-longest running weekly show in television history behind the WWE’s Monday Night Raw, will feature several guest stars during its anniversary show, including WWE superstar/actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, NFL star Ben Roethlisberger, Cedric The Entertainer, Snoop Dogg, Kyle Busch and William Shatner.

Tonight’s episode will mark the 790th for SmackDown since the series launched in 1999. Currently the series is averaging 3.1 million viewers, tops for a cable series on Friday night, according to the WWE.