Viewership Numbers Decline as Reigns Takes a Brief Hiatus, Fans Eager for His Comeback

Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown witnessed a decline in viewership, as the absence of Roman Reigns impacted the show’s ratings. However, this coming Friday, the anticipation is building for Reigns’ highly anticipated return.

The latest SmackDown episode, which did not feature Reigns, averaged 2.309 million viewers on Fox, marking a 9.8 percent decrease from the previous week’s highly anticipated “Trial of Roman Reigns” episode. This episode’s viewership stands as the lowest since June 9.

Despite the decline in total viewers, SmackDown still secured second place in terms of total viewership among network television, trailing only a repeat of Blue Bloods on CBS.

In the key 18-49 demographic, SmackDown remained dominant, earning a 0.62 rating. This figure more than doubled the rating of its nearest competitor. However, it is worth noting that this rating represents an 18.4 percent drop from the previous week, marking SmackDown’s lowest rating in the demo since June 23.

Fans eagerly await the return of Roman Reigns, who was absent from this episode. His highly anticipated comeback is scheduled for this coming Friday, although the show will be temporarily moved to FS1 due to Fox’s coverage of the women’s World Cup.

In a year-to-year comparison, SmackDown has seen a notable increase in overall audience, up 11.2 percent, and a significant surge of 31.9 percent in the 18-49 demographic. This trend indicates that this year’s viewership is skewing much younger, highlighting the show’s appeal to a broader audience.