SmackDown Hits Second-Highest Audience Since December Amid Strong Ratings
Summary
– WWE SmackDown averaged 1.455 million viewers, up 3.7% from last week
– The show ranked first on TV in the 18-49 demo with a 0.44 rating
– SmackDown outperformed major sports competition, including college basketball and the NBA
Friday night’s WWE SmackDown saw a rise in viewership, averaging 1.455 million viewers on USA Network, marking a 3.7% increase from the previous week. It was the second-highest audience total for the show since December 13 and ranked in the top 10 for total TV viewership, a first since moving to USA.
In the key 18-49 demographic, SmackDown topped all television programming with a 0.44 rating, up 4.8% from the previous episode. This ties the show’s second-best demo rating since November 22.
SmackDown easily outperformed major sports competition, including a college basketball game on Fox that drew 1.069 million viewers with a 0.23 demo rating and an NBA game on ESPN that averaged 424,000 viewers with a 0.13 in the demo.
Compared to the same week in 2024, when SmackDown aired on Fox, overall viewership was down 41.2%, and the 18-49 demo dropped by 38%. However, last year’s episode fell on Royal Rumble weekend, which traditionally delivers above-average numbers.
