Tag: Smackdown ratings

The Rock’s return draws best WWE SmackDown ratings since September

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode — which featured an appearance by The Rock — averaged 1.736 million viewers on USA Network. That’s up 22.1 percent from the previous week and is the best audience total the show has done since its USA Network return episode last September.

In the 18-49 demo, SmackDown finished first on all of television with a 0.51 rating. The number is up 18.6 percent from the previous week and is also the highest rating the show has done in that category since the re-debut on USA Network on September 13, 2024.

The show went head-to-head with college basketball on Fox, which finished second on the TV charts for the day with a 0.41 rating in 18-49. ESPN’s NBA coverage also aired opposite SmackDown and finished fifth with a 0.31 rating.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show still aired on Fox, the overall viewership was down 23.6 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 17.7 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 18.7 percent in overall viewers and 15.9 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown draws lowest viewership of 2025

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.384 million viewers on USA Network, down 8.2 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total for the show since December 20.

SmackDown finished second on cable (and all of television) with a 0.42 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 12.5 percent from last week and is the lowest rating the show has done in that category since January 10.

The show went head-to-head with the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, featuring WWE star Bayley, which topped all of TV with a 0.43 rating in 18-49 and 1.208 million viewers on ESPN. The Rising Stars game on the same network also went against SmackDown and did a 0.25 demo rating and 821,000 viewers.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show aired on Fox, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 45.8 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 44 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, along with the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 12.6 percent in viewers and 4.5 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings down, still ranks first on TV

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.507 million viewers on USA Network, down 4.5 percent from the previous week. It’s still the second-largest audience total for the show so far in 2025.

SmackDown topped all of television with a 0.48 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 5.9 percent from last week but is the second-best rating the show has done in that category since October 11. It’s the fourth-highest number SmackDown has done since returning to USA in September.

The show went head-to-head with college basketball on Fox that averaged 1.45 million viewers and a 0.34 rating in 18-49 as well as an NBA game on ESPN that averaged 952,000 viewers and a 0.26 demo rating.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show still aired on Fox, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 41.5 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 36 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, along with the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 3.7 percent in overall viewers and 11.6 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings up, ranks first on TV in 18-49 demo

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s Royal Rumble go-home edition of WWE SmackDown averaged 1.578 million viewers on USA Network, up 8.5 percent from the previous week. It’s the best audience total for SmackDown since the show moved to three hours and is tied for its largest audience overall since October 11.

SmackDown finished first on all of television with a 0.51 rating in the 18-49 demo, nearly doubling the closest competition. That’s up 15.9 percent from last week and is the second-highest rating the show has done in that category since returning to USA, trailing only the premiere on September 13 of last year.

The biggest sports competition was a college basketball game on Fox that drew a 0.31 rating in the 18-49 demo (tied for second place on TV) and averaged 1.453 million viewers overall.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show still aired on Fox, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 36.1 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 31.1 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s episode was up 8.6 percent in viewers and 18.6 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings up on Friday night

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.455 million viewers on USA Network, up 3.7 percent from the previous week. It’s the second-highest audience total for the show since December 13. The show finished in the top 10 overall on television for the night in terms of total viewers, which it has not done since moving to USA.

SmackDown finished first on all of TV in the 18-49 demo with a 0.44 rating. That’s up 4.8 percent from last week and ties the second-best rating the show has done since November 22.

The show finished well ahead of the major sports competition — a college basketball game on Fox that did 1.069 million viewers and a 0.23 rating in 18-49 and an NBA game on ESPN that averaged 424,000 viewers and a 0.13 in the demo.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show still aired on Fox, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 41.2 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 38 percent. This was the weekend of the Royal Rumble last year, which always does a number well above average.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 1.7 percent in overall viewers and 7.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings down against College Football Playoff semifinal

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.436 million viewers on USA Network, down six percent from the previous week. It ties the second-lowest audience total the show has done since November 29.

SmackDown finished second on cable — and all of television — with a 0.40 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 11.1 percent from last week and ties the second-lowest rating the show has done in that category since November 15.

The show went head-to-head with the Cotton Bowl on ESPN and ESPN2, a College Football Championship semifinal game, which topped TV with nearly 20 million viewers overall for the ESPN airing and a 4.95 rating in the 18-49 demo.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show still aired on Fox, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 39.8 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 37.5 percent. This year, Fox aired a Big 10 college basketball game that averaged 658,000 viewers and drew a 0.10 rating in 18-49, down 72.4 percent and 84.4 percent respectively from what SmackDown did last year in the same time slot.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 0.2 percent in overall viewers but down 4.8 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings up for first episode of 2025

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.528 million viewers on USA Network, up 6.4 percent from the previous week. It’s the second-highest audience total for the show since November 22.

SmackDown finished second on the prime time cable charts with a 0.45 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 9.8 percent from last week and also ties the second-best rating the show has done in that category since the November 22 episode.

This was the first episode since SmackDown moved to three hours, though it’s been confirmed that the show will be moving back to a two-hour format at some point in the coming months. It went head-to-head with college football’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl on ESPN, which topped the cable charts with 3.384 million viewers and a 0.65 rating in the 18-49 demo.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when SmackDown aired on Fox, the show’s overall audience was down 38 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 32.8 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership numbers and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 6.7 percent in viewers and 7.1 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings up for final episode of 2024

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.436 million viewers on USA Network, up 8.3 percent from the previous week. It’s the fourth-largest audience total for the show since October 11.

SmackDown finished second on the prime time cable charts with a 0.41 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 10.8 percent from last week but is the second-lowest rating the show has done in that category since November 29.

The show went head-to-head with two college football bowl games, including the Liberty Bowl on ESPN which averaged 4.2 million viewers and topped all of television with a 0.95 rating in the 18-49 demo.

As compared to the same week last year — a best-of 2023 episode — SmackDown’s overall viewership was up six percent while its 18-49 rating was up 46.4 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 0.7 percent in viewership but down 2.4 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings down against College Football Playoffs

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.326 million viewers on USA Network, down 13.3 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total for the show since November 15 and is the second-lowest since SmackDown returned to USA Network.

The show finished third on cable with a 0.37 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 21.3 percent from last week, and it’s also the second-lowest rating SmackDown has done in that category since returning to USA, beating only the November 15 episode.

SmackDown went head-to-head with a Notre Dame vs. Indiana College Football Playoff game airing on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. The games itself averaged more than 13 million viewers between the networks. The pre-game shows on both channels rounded out the top shows on television, and programming related to the game was the only thing that beat SmackDown in the key demo.

As compared to the same week in 2023, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 37.1 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 32.3 percent (from an episode that aired on Fox).

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 9.1 percent in overall viewers and 14 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings up for SNME go-home show

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 1.53 million viewers on the USA Network, up 2.4% from the previous week, which did 1.49 million. It’s the largest audience for the show since November 22nd.

SmackDown topped the cable charts for the day according to Wrestlenomics with a 0.47 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 6.8% from the December 6th show and ties the highest rating the show has done in that category since October 11th.

As compared to the same week in 2023, when the show still aired on FOX, the overall audience was down 31.7% while the 18-49 rating was down 14.6%.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for WWE SmackDown on the USA Network as well as the 10 week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 5% in overall viewers and 9.3% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings up following Survivor Series

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.494 million viewers on USA Network, up 11.4 percent from the previous week. It’s the third-largest audience total for the show since October 11.

SmackDown drew a 0.44 rating in the 18-49 demo, which topped the prime time cable charts for the day. That’s up 10 percent from last week, which was also the third-best rating the show has done in that category since the October 11 episode.

The show went head-to-head with a conference championship college football game on Fox that averaged three million viewers and topped all of television with a 0.70 rating. There was also an NBA game on ESPN that drew a 0.31 and another college football game on ABC that did a 0.28.

As compared to the same week in 2023, when SmackDown still aired on Fox, the show’s overall viewership was down 37.3 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 30.2 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up two percent in overall viewers and 2.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown ratings down on Black Friday

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown averaged 1.341 million viewers on USA Network, down 15 percent from the previous week. It’s the second-lowest audience total the show has done since moving back to that network in September.

The episode was taped in advance and was the go-home show for Survivor Series. It finished first on cable, and fourth overall on television in prime time, with a 0.40 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 13 percent from the November 22 episode and is also the second-lowest rating SmackDown has drawn since returning to USA.

SmackDown faced stronger-than-usual sports competition on Black Friday with college football games on Fox, NBC, and ABC that combined for nearly 15 million viewers and a 2.82 rating in 18-49.

As compared to the same week in 2023, when the show still aired on Fox, Smackdown’s overall viewership was down 34.4 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 32.2 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 9.4 percent in overall viewers and 9.1 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Dave Meltzer’s AEW & WWE ratings analysis for last week’s shows

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

For the week of 11/11 to 11/17, in the cable entertainment category, Yellowstone on Paramount was first, followed by Raw, SmackDown, the debut of Landman on Paramount, and AEW Dynamite was fifth.

As far as overall in 18-49 on cable, Raw was 13th, behind five NFL related shows, two college football games, three NBA games, one college basketball game and Yellowstone. SmackDown was 22nd, lower than usual due to going against the Tyson-Paul fight. AEW Dynamite was 41st, even with its best number since late September.

Last year in the same week, Raw was first and AEW was fifth in entertainment and 15th and 25th overall. The main difference is that AEW was behind 13 FOX News shows during the week this year.

AEW Dynamite on 11/20, going against the Country Music Awards as well as the regular programming, did 640,000 viewers with a 0.20 (266,000 viewers) in 18-49 and an 0.12 in 18-34.

The CMA Awards on ABC did 6,092,000/0.81.

On cable, Dynamite was No. 5, behind two NBA games and two shows on FOX News. Chicago vs. Milwaukee NBA won the time slot at 1,217,000/0.35 but the later game after Dynamite was over won the night at 1,063,000/0.35 by 4,000 viewers. Jesse Watters did 3,734,000/0.25 for second place in hour one and Dynamite was third. In hour two, Dynamite was behind the NBA game but beat Hannity (2,972,000/0.19) by 3,000 viewers for second place. Other competition saw Real Housewives of Salt Lake City on Bravo at 444,000/0.16, Challenge on MTV at 341,000/0.15, Expedition Unknown on Discovery at 910,000/0.11, Sistas Series on BET at 744,000/0.09 and College Football on ESPN 2 with Ohio vs. Toledo at 414,000/0.08.

The Big Bang Theory lead-in did 973,000/0.17 which was the second highest entertainment show of the night behind Dynamite.

Dynamite was down 3.9 percent in viewers from last week, down 8.0 percent in 18-49 and up 15.6 percent in 18-34.

The show did 62,000 in men 18-34 (up 24.0 percent from last week), 27,000 in women 18-34 (same as last week), 122,000 in men 35-49 (down 17.6 percent) and 55,000 in women 35-49 (down 14.1 percent from last week).

The show only did 1.31 viewers per home and the audience was 69.2 percent male in 18-49.

From one year ago, it was down 23.9 percent in viewers, down 21.1 percent in 18-49 and down 21.9 percent in 18-34.  Factoring in homes lost by cable, the real drops were 19.1 percent in viewers, 13.1 percent in 18-49 and 14.0 percent in 18-34.

It opened with 747,000 viewers and 296,000 in 18-49 for Will Ospreay & Mark Davis & Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricochet vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher & Lance Archer & Brian Cage.

The rest of that match, promos with Darby Allin and the Death Riders and the Hurt Syndicate and Swerve Strickland angle did 671,000 viewers and 275,000 in 18-49.

Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly, a Conglomeration promo and Kris Statlander vs. Hikaru Shida did 634,000 viewers and 249,000 in 18-49.

The rest of Shida vs. Statlander, Mercedes Mone & Kamille, Hurt Syndicate and Bobby Lashley vs. Cheeseburger & Joe Keys did 667,000 viewers and 273,000 in 18-49.

The post-match stuff with Hurt Syndicate, Sweve Strickland and Prince Nana, Mina Shirakawa and Mariah May and star of Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli did 649,000 viewers and 269,000 in 18-49.

The end of Allin vs. Castagnoli, Private Party, A.J. The Costco guy and Big Justice, Roderick Strong and MJF promos did 630,000 viewers and 263,000 in 18-49.

Angles with Daniel Garcia and Jack Perry, Chris Jericho and Tomohiro Ishii which involved The Conglomeration and Learning Tree and Jamie Hayster promo did 594,000 viewers and 255,000 in 18-49.

The Julia Hart video and Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta did 549,000 viewers and 246,000 in 18-49.

The end of that match and post-match with the Death Rider and Conglomeration did 597,000 viewers and 276,000 in 18-49.

NXT on 11/19 did 672,000 viewers with an 0.19 (250,000 viewers) in 18-49 and an 0.11 in 18-34.

The key to this being well above usual numbers when they don’t have main roster talent in key spots on the show, is the Chase U breakup angle. The Ridge Holland vs. Andre Chase main event for both a title shot and if Chase lost, he’d have to break up the group, in the main event slot, did 731,000 viewers and 0.21 which is much higher than main events usually do unless it’s a show with a major main roster star.

The biggest competition was Dancing with the Stars on ABC (5,187,000/0.75). CW once again beat FOX, which did an 0.14, to take fourth among the five networks. Cable competition included Cleveland vs. Boston NBA on TNT (1,691,000/0.50), Jessie Watters (4,038,000/0.27) and Hannity (3,322,000/0.20) on FOX News Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (796,000/0.20 and College Football with Miami of Ohio vs., Northern Illinois on ESPN (497,000/0.13).

The show was up 6.5 percent in viewers from the prior week, up 16.8 percent in 18-49 and even in 18-34.

The show did 1.37 viewers per home and 64.9 percent male in 18-49.

From one year ago on USA, the show was up 8.0 percent in viewers, up 1.6 percent in 18-49 and down 8.3 percent in 18-34.  

Raw on 11/18 did 1,516,000 viewers with an 0.49 (653,000 viewers) in 18-49 and an 0.32 in 18-34 for a taped show which is pretty impressive since it did the same in 18-49 for a taped show this week as last week even though last week had much easier NFL competition.

It was fourth on cable behind three NFL related shows on ESPN and second in the time slot.  The Houston Texans vs. Dallas Cowboys game did 8,622,000/1.46 on ABC, 7,490,000/2.42 on ESPN and 878,000/0.30 on ESPN 2 for a total of 16,990,000/4.18.  Raw beat everything on television for the day except the NFL.

The other competition was Jesse Watters (3,684,000/0.20) and Hannity (2,712,000/0.15) on FOX News, 90 Day Fiance Tow: Tel A on Bravo (932,000/0.18 and U.S. and USA vs. Jamaica soccer on TNT (273,000/0.11).

It was down 2.9 percent in viewers from last week, down 0.2 percent in 18-49 and up 3.2 percent in 18-49 even though football competition was tougher.

The first hour did 1,502,000 viewers and the second hour did 1,530,000 viewers.

The show did 1.41 viewers per home with 66.0 percent men in 18-49.

From one year ago, when the show went against a Chiefs vs. Eagles game that had more than 29 million viewers, it was up 3.9 percent in viewers, up 1.4 percent in 18-49 and down 3.0 percent in 18-34.  Factoring in homes lost by cable, the real percentage changes would be up 10.9 percent in viewers, up 11.5 percent in 18-49 and up 6.1 percent in 18-34. That makes sense given how much tougher the competition was last year.

Invincible Fight Girl, the Adult Swim show about a girl becoming a pro wrestler, airing at midnight, did 204,000 viewers and an 0.12 in 18-49. Aside from a Hallmark movie in prime time, it was the highest rated entertainment show on cable that day, beating Collision for that spot.

The taped Collision show on 11/16 did 356,000 viewers with an 0.11 (154,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.04 in 18-34.

The key was a bad number in men 18-34 but a good number in men 35-49.

Collision was No. 15 for the day on cable and fourth in the time slot was behind the UFC 309 prelims on FX (816,000/0.36), Arizona vs. Kansas State football on ESPN (849,000/0.21) and The Hallmark Christmas movie Jingle Bell Run (1,730,000/0.13).  It beat On Patrol Live, College Football on FS 1, College Football on the Big 10 network and College Basketball on the Big 10 Network. Network college football head-to-head saw Tennessee vs. Georgia on ABC (9,823,000/2.39), Oregon vs Washington on NBC (4,121,000/0.84) and Cincinnati vs. Iowa State on FOX (1,002,000/0.22).

The show was up 7.2 percent in viewers, up 14.1 percent in 18-49 and down 45.8 percent in 18-34.

The show did 12,000 in men 18-34 (down 66.7 percent), 14,000 in women 18-34 (up 16.7 percent), 95,000 in men 35-49 (up 50.8 percent) and 23,000 in women 35-49 (down 4.2 percent).  The show did 1.45 viewers per home and was 69.5 percent male viewers in 18-49.

From the prior year, with the show out of its regular slot so these comparisons don’t mean anything, It was up 31.9 percent in viewers, up 38.7 percent in 18-49 and down 38.1 percent in 18-34. The big increase was just because of comparing a show in its regular slot this year to one out of it last year.

Going against the Netflix broadcast of boxing, both wrestling shows on 11/15 did among their worst numbers ever. Really you can throw these numbers out regarding comparisons because they are total flukes.

Rampage on 11/15 did among its lowest numbers ever, doing head-to-head with the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight. It did 186,000 viewers with an 0.06 (75,000 viewers) in 18-49s and a record low 0.02 in 18-34.

Rampage didn’t crack the top 25 for the night.  In the time slot, it was seventh behind Memphis vs, Golden State NBA game on ESPN (1,027,000/0.24, extremely low for the Warriors on ESPN), Gutfeld on FOX News (2,819,000/0.17), Scare Tactics on USA with the SmackDown lead-in (380,000/0.15), Mexico vs. Honduras soccer on Univision Deportes (237,000/0.09), On Patrol Live on Reelz (496,000/0.08), and Marquette vs. Maryland college basketball on FS 1 (221,000/0.07against the first 30 minutes of Rampage).

It was down 21.5 percent from the prior week in viewers, down 16.7 percent in 18-49 and down 31.8 percent in 18-34.

It did 10,000 in men 18-34 (down 16.7 percent from last week), 5,000 in women 18-34 (down 50.0 percent), 52,000 in men 35-49 (up 18.2 percent from last week which is shocking given the competition and 8,000 in women 35-49 (down 66.7 percent).

The show did just 1.23 viewers per home and the audience was 82.7 percent male in 18-49, which is an incredibly high percentage for a wrestling show.

From one year ago, it was down 33.6 percent in viewers, down 38,0 percent in 18-49 and down 57.1 percent in 18-34. Factoring in homes lost by cable doesn’t make much of a difference as the declines were 28.9 percent in viewers, down 31.4 percent in 18-49 and down 52.9 percent in 18-34.

SmackDown did its lowest numbers ever for a show on the USA Network, but there were FS1 shows in recent years that did lower numbers.

The show did 1,234,000 viewers with a 0.32 (432,000 viewers) in 18-49 and a 0.20 in 18-34.

What’s notable is the numbers were way down even though the Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor fight didn’t even start until after SmackDown was over, which shows that a giant audience watched the entire boxing show and not just the top two fights.

SmackDown was No. 2 on cable and on all of television even with the lower than usual number, behind only the Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA game on ESPN that did 1,280,000 viewers and an 0.36 in 18-49.

The declines from last week would be entirely due to the fight, as it was down 19.7 percent in viewers, down 32.2 percent in 18-49 and down 25.9 percent in 18-34.

The show did 1.40 viewers per home with 64.6 percent male in 18-49.

It was down 44.1 percent in viewers from the same week last year, down 47.0 percent in 18-49 and down 50.0 percent in 18-34, but that’s meaningless given cable instead of network and the competition.

WWE SmackDown ratings rebound, ranks first on TV for the night

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.578 million viewers on the USA Network, up 27.9 percent from last week’s show that went against the Jake Paul/Mike Tyson boxing special on Netflix. It’s the highest audience total SmackDown has done since October 11 and the third-highest number the show has drawn since returning to USA Network in September.

SmackDown topped all of television with a 0.46 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 43.8 percent from last week and is the second-highest rating the show has done in that category since the October 11 episode.

The show went head-to-head with an NBA game on ESPN that finished third on TV with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demo and a college football game on Fox that did a 0.34 to finish fifth.

As compared to the same week in 2023, when the show was moved to FS1 due to Fox airing college football, SmackDown’s overall viewership was up 100 percent while the 18-49 rating was up 91.7 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, along with the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 5.6 percent in overall viewers and up 2.2 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE SmackDown draws lowest ratings since moving to USA Network

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.234 million viewers on USA Network, down 19.7 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total the show has drawn since moving back to USA Network and the lowest SmackDown has done since November 24 of last year for an episode that aired on FS1.

SmackDown drew a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 31.9 percent from last week and is also the lowest since moving to USA. It’s SmackDown’s smallest 18-49 rating since a best-of 2023 episode last December.

The show aired head-to-head with the early portion of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing special. Netflix claimed a peak audience of 60 million households worldwide for that show, although most of those viewers would likely have tuned in after SmackDown ended. Hourly data is not currently available.

As compared to the same week in 2023 (when the show was on Fox), SmackDown’s overall audience was down 44.1 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 48.4 percent.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. The first week is from a Fox episode with the rest of the chart being USA Network airings. This week’s show was down 20.3 percent in overall viewers and down 30.4 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.