WWE SmackDown Ratings: Numbers Down This Week, New FOX Low

The initial WWE SmackDown ratings and viewership figures are in for Friday night's broadcast on FOX, and the show saw a decline in both metrics this week.

The November 15th edition of SmackDown drew an average of 2.350 million viewers according to the overnights posted at Showbuzz Daily. This is based off of viewership figures of 2.445 million during hour number one and 2.255 million for hour number two.

Last week's show saw an average viewership of 2.617 million, so this week's broadcast saw a drop of about 10 percent. This week's viewership also ranks as the second lowest number since the show moved to the FOX family on October 4th. The only show so far that has drawn less was the October 25th edition (888,000), which actually didn't even air on FOX itself (it was moved to FS1 due to the World Series). Thus, this is the lowest viewership number SmackDown has done on FOX proper since the move.

In the key 18-49 age group ratings demographic, SmackDown drew a 0.7 this week which tied with Hawaii Five-O for number one on the night. Last week, SmackDown did a 0.85 rating in that demographic. Among adults 18-34, SmackDown did a 0.4 rating, which also tied with Hawaii Five-O for number one in that demographic. Last week's show was at a 0.6 in the 18-34 demo.

Despite the large viewership declines for SmackDown in recent weeks, the strong target demographic ratings among 18-49 year olds is what will keep the show looking strong to executives at FOX.

In terms of pure viewership, SmackDown's 2.350 million viewers ranked eighth for the night on network television, trailing American Housewife, 20/20, Hawaii Five-O, Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, and Dateline NBC.

The final viewership figures and television ratings for SmackDown will be released on Monday.

What did you think of this week's edition of SmackDown? Let us know in the comments section below and give me a follow on Twitter @ryandroste for all things WWE.