WWE's ECW on Sci-Fi broadcast and TNA Impact delivered strong TV ratings during the five-week period in the month of March. TNA's very successful month narrowed the gap between the two broadcasts from 6.0 percent in favor of ECW in January to only 1.1 percent in favor of ECW in March.

Overall for the first quarter of 2009 (January - March), ECW was seen by 3.6 percent more viewers than TNA Impact. ECW started with a sizeable difference in January, then the lead shrunk in February, and TNA closed the margin significantly in March.

During the five week period from March 3 - March 31, ECW TV averaged 1.84 million viewers per episode. During the same "weekly period" from March 5 to April 2, TNA Impact averaged 1.82 million viewers.

In March, ECW scored three "weekly" victories against Impact, which closed the monthly comparison with an impressive 7.2 percent victory for the April 2 episode compared to the March 31 ECW TV episode.

Following is a chart from the first three months of 2009 to track TNA's steady climb toward matching ECW TV during the week.

January Averages
ECW TV - 1.73 million viewers
TNA Impact - 1.63 million viewers
ECW TV + 6.0 percent

February Averages
ECW TV - 1.75 million viewers
TNA Impact - 1.68 million viewers
ECW TV + 4.5 percent

March Averages
ECW TV - 1.84 million viewers
TNA Impact - 1.82 million viewers
ECW TV + 1.1 percent

First Quarter 2009 Averages
ECW TV - 1.78 million viewers
TNA Impact - 1.71 million viewers
ECW TV + 3.6 percent

Source: PWT