WWE SmackDown Ratings: Numbers Steady With Last Week

This week’s WWE SmackDown ratings and viewership figures are in. The numbers paint a similar story to last week, as in the overnight figures published to Showbuzz Daily, SmackDown drew a near identical number to last week’s show. According to the report, SmackDown averaged 2.003 million viewers on Friday night. That number comes from a first hour that did 2.036 million and a second hour that drew 1.969 million viewers. Last week’s show averaged 2.013 million viewers across its two hours.

In terms of pure viewership, SmackDown ranked eighth place across network television in prime time on Friday night. WWE was defeated by Shark Tank, 20/20, MacGyver, Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, Mr. Mayor, and Dateline NBC.

In the all important 18-49 age group ratings demographic, SmackDown drew a 0.50 rating. That was third place for the night on network television. Shark Tank came in first place with a 0.80 key demo rating. Last week’s SmackDown did a 0.53 in this demo.

Final ratings and viewership figures will be out on Monday, at which time we will likely see these numbers shift slightly.

Two weeks ago, SmackDown drew a massive audience on Christmas night. Due to a great lead-in from the NFL, SmackDown that night averaged 3.303 million viewers and a 0.96 18-49 demo rating. However, that show was certainly an abberation due to the NFL game that came immediately prior and unfortunately, WWE wasn’t able to parlay that larger audience into a similar number the following week. The viewership numbers the past two weeks have actually been lower than most episodes of the show throughout the fall of 2020, which routinely did in the neighborhood of 2.1-2.3 million.

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