WWE SmackDown on FOX Ratings Fall Significantly Once Again This Week

It was another rough week in the television ratings for WWE SmackDown on FOX, the third edition of the show since moving networks.

This week's SmackDown drew an average of 2.442 million viewers on Friday night according to Showbuzz Daily. This is down nearly 16 percent from last week's show that averaged 2.899 million viewers in the overnights. Since debuting on the network on October 4th (a broadcast which drew 3.869 million viewers), SmackDown has seen its viewership drop a staggering 37 percent in just two week's time.

There was some good news as it relates to the key demographic ratings, though, as SmackDown was number one for the night on network television with a 0.55 rating in the 18-34 age group demographic and a 0.75 rating in the 18-49 age group demographic. While still a win in the key demos, these numbers are also down significantly versus week one back on October 4th, as that show saw a 0.95 rating among 18-34 year olds and 1.35 among 18-49 year olds.

In terms of pure viewership, SmackDown's 2.442 million average viewers this week on FOX ranked last among FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS during the 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. time frame.

The number's for this week's show reflected in this article are overnight figures and should be updated again on Monday, which should reflect some minor changes to the numbers. For example, last week's show was reported at 2.899 million in the overnights, but the updated numbers on Monday showed 2.877 million.

Next week should prove to be a tough week in the ratings, not just for WWE SmackDown, but also AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT. Wednesday night will see game two of the World Series go head to head with AEW and WWE NXT, while Friday night will see game three of the World Series go head to head with SmackDown. SmackDown will also see a channel change next week to accommodate the World Series, as WWE will be moved to FS1 to accommodate the World Series on FOX.

In all, WWE didn't give fans much of a reason to stay tuned into the broadcast this week as Friday's SmackDown felt like a somewhat insignificant show. Outside of promoting a Roman Reigns vs. Shinsuke Nakamura WWE Intercontinental Championship match (which eventually lead to a pretty good tag team main event), the show felt far from must-see and that was definitely reflected in the drop in television ratings from last week.

Let us know what you think of WWE's recent television ratings in the comment section below or give me a follow on Twitter @ryandroste for all things WWE and AEW.