Tag: wwe fs1

WWE SmackDown tops one million viewers on FS1

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Source: ShowBuzz Daily

Friday night’s SmackDown averaged 1,032,000 viewers on FS1, up 19.2 percent from the October 15 episode that also aired on the channel.

Friday’s show aired on FS1 due to game three of the World Series being on Fox.

The number is even more impressive when considering the previous SmackDown on FS1 was loaded up with the company’s top stars in Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and Becky Lynch while this show had none of them. In addition, the sports competition was much stronger this time. The World Series game averaged more than 11 million viewers head-to-head.

This is the highest viewership that SmackDown has done on FS1 in its five different airings over the last two-plus years. It narrowly beat out the SmackDown episode from last December that did not have World Series competition and averaged 1,030,000 viewers.

SmackDown finished third on the cable charts with a 0.29 rating, up 20.8 percent from two weeks prior. It was the highest rated non-sports show on cable, topping AEW Rampage’s 0.25 rating.

Here’s a look at the viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for SmackDown’s FS1 broadcasts to date. It should be noted that the October 15 show from this year included an additional 30 minutes, which brought down the show’s average:

  • October 25, 2019: 888,000 viewers, 0.27 rating in 18-49
  • October 23, 2020: 881,000 viewers, 0.25 rating in 18-49
  • December 18, 2020: 1,030,000 viewers, 0.30 rating in 18-49
  • October 15. 2021: 866,000 viewers, 0.24 rating in 18-49
  • October 29, 2021: 1,032,000 viewers, 0.29 rating in 18-49

Talking Smack no longer airing after Friday’s WWE SmackDown on FS1

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Talking Smack will no longer be airing after this Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FS1.

WWE has announced that, immediately after Friday’s SmackDown, the show will replay twice on FS1. The replays will start at 10 p.m. and midnight Eastern time.

Cable listings originally indicated that a one-hour episode of Talking Smack would be airing after Friday’s SmackDown, with SmackDown then replaying at 11 p.m. Eastern. Talking Smack will instead premiere on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday morning as it usually does.

The Talking Smack episode would have gone head-to-head with AEW Rampage. The first hour of the SmackDown replay will now go against Rampage.

Friday’s SmackDown is airing on FS1 due to game three of the World Series between the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves being on Fox. SmackDown also shifted to FS1 two weeks ago due to a scheduling conflict with the MLB playoffs. That SmackDown episode was a supersized edition of the show that was two-and-a-half hours long.

This Friday’s SmackDown is taking place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. There have yet to be any matches announced for the show. WWE is teasing that a new challenger may stand up to Universal Champion Roman Reigns following the storyline indefinite suspension that Brock Lesnar was given last week.

WWE Backstage returning for Royal Rumble preview special

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE Backstage is returning for a Royal Rumble special.

Fox Sports announced today that a special Royal Rumble preview edition of WWE Backstage will air on FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, January 30. That’s the night before this year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

The special edition of WWE Backstage will be hosted by Renee Paquette, Booker T, and Paige. Paquette (formerly known as Renee Young in WWE) departed WWE in August 2020. She also made an appearance on Fox’s pre-show for SmackDown’s season premiere episode in October.

Weekly production of WWE Backstage was ended in June of last year, but it was noted at the time that the studio show could return with occasional episodes surrounding major WWE events. It was announced in October that WWE Backstage would be returning for a special episode in conjunction with SmackDown making a one-week move to FS1 due to the World Series, but that was changed from WWE Backstage to an episode of Talking Smack.

WWE Backstage’s Royal Rumble preview will re-air on FS1 at midnight Eastern time the night of the episode and at 5 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, January 31.

WWE notes: Talking Smack, 205 Live matches

Posted on by Joseph Currier

– With SmackDown making a one-week shift to FS1 tonight, there will be a special edition of Talking Smack airing immediately after the show.

A one-hour edition of Talking Smack will air on FS1 after SmackDown at 10 p.m. Eastern time tonight. Fox Sports has announced that Booker T will join Kayla Braxton and Paul Heyman to host tonight’s Talking Smack.

It’s also been announced that tonight’s Talking Smack will feature Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer interviewing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Fox Sports’ Charlotte Wilder interviewing Sasha Banks. The Rock appeared on Glazer’s One Glass With Glazer on Instagram Live three weeks ago and Fox Sports uploaded an interview with Wilder and Banks earlier this month.

Talking Smack made its return this August and usually premieres on the WWE Network on Saturday mornings. A special edition of Talking Smack also aired on FS1 this October when SmackDown made a one-week move to FS1 due to a World Series game airing on Fox.

SmackDown is airing on FS1 tonight due to college football’s Pac-12 Championship Game being on Fox. After Talking Smack, a replay of tonight’s SmackDown will air on FS1 at 11 p.m. Eastern.

– 205 Live is airing on the WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern tonight. WWE has announced two matches for the show: Jake Atlas vs. Tony Nese and Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel) vs. The Bollywood Boyz (Sunil & Samir Singh).

Atlas defeated Nese on NXT two weeks ago. Ever-Rise vs. The Bollywood Boyz is being promoted as the rubber match between the teams due to them each having one victory over the other in recent weeks.

Renee Young & Booker T to host WWE Backstage studio show on FS1

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has confirmed the hosts of their studio show on FS1.

Renee Young and Booker T will be the hosts of the show, which is called WWE Backstage. It will air on FS1 at 11 p.m. Eastern time/8 p.m. Pacific on Tuesdays every week starting on November 5. There will also be a preview show after game three of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series on Tuesday, October 15.

A press release stated that Young and Booker T will “weigh in on the biggest stories in WWE, and are joined by a rotating cast of guests and personalities, including current and former WWE Superstars.”

For the preview show, Young and Booker T will be “joined by special guests to reveal the WWE Backstage set at the FOX Studios Lot in Los Angeles, and to break in their brand-new ring.”

“WWE Backstage is a wrestling show for wrestling fans. From hardcore fans to people new to wrestling, we’ll give them a little bit of everything,” Young said. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be loud, we’re going to give them a ton of opinions and I can’t wait to help spread the word about SmackDown coming to FOX.”

“It’s awesome being part of the FOX family and part of this movement of Friday Night SmackDown to FOX,” Booker T said. “FOX Sports has always been the one-stop shop for sports and now it’s going to be the one-stop shop for sports and entertainment. I think this is going to be a tag team that’s going to last for a long time, and one that cannot lose. As I always say, now can you dig it, sucka?”

WWE having a weekly studio show on FS1 was first reported in May 2018. This April, Triple H confirmed the show would be debuting in the fall.

SmackDown is making its FOX debut next Friday (October 4). The premiere will feature Brock Lesnar challenging for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship, a ladder match between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon, Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley, and appearances by legends for SmackDown’s 20th anniversary celebration.

The Owens vs. Shane ladder match has a stipulation where both of their careers are on the line.

The press release announcing WWE Backstage hyped that more information — including additional on-air personalities and special guests — will be announced at a later date.