The latest episode of WWE SmackDown, which aired on Friday night, maintained strong viewership but experienced a 3.3 percent decline compared to the New Year’s Revolution episode. The show garnered an average of 2.384 million viewers on Fox, tying for the second-highest audience since October 13.
In the coveted 18-49 demographic, SmackDown secured a 0.64 rating, indicating a 4.5 percent decrease from the previous week. However, it still ties for the second-highest rating since the September 15 episode featuring a surprise appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Despite the slight dip, SmackDown remained the leader in the key demo across all of network television and dominated the daily sports chart, surpassing both network and cable sports programming. The closest competitor was an NBA game on ESPN with an average rating of 0.38.
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Comparing this week’s viewership to the same period in 2023, SmackDown exhibited a positive trend with a 2.5 percent increase in overall viewership and a significant 16.4 percent rise in the 18-49 rating.
For a more comprehensive overview, the table below provides data for the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s episode demonstrated an 11.6 percent improvement in overall viewership and a 14.3 percent uptick in the 18-49 demo compared to recent averages.
Week Ending | Overall Viewership (millions) | 18-49 Demo Rating |
---|---|---|
January 13, 2023 | 2.384 | 0.64 |
January 6, 2023 | 2.464 | 0.67 |
December 30, 2022 | 2.485 | 0.73 |
December 23, 2022 | 2.104 | 0.58 |
December 16, 2022 | 2.145 | 0.59 |
December 9, 2022 | 2.174 | 0.58 |
December 2, 2022 | 2.230 | 0.63 |
November 25, 2022 | 2.136 | 0.62 |
November 18, 2022 | 2.202 | 0.65 |
November 11, 2022 | 2.324 | 0.67 |
November 4, 2022 | 2.282 | 0.63 |
10-Week Average | 2.262 | 0.64 |
The numbers suggest that SmackDown continues to be a strong performer, with consistent high ratings in recent weeks.