WWE SmackDown Ratings and Viewership Tick Up This Week

WWE SmackDown saw its key demo rating and viewership number increase this week according to the overnight figures released on Saturday morning. Considering the quality of the show that was presented on Friday night, that has to be a welcome surprise for WWE. The show itself was largely criticized as one of the worst of the pandemic era, and given the limited amount of stars that were featured on the broadcast, would seem to indicate a large number of WWE talent simply were unable to work the tapings. Read into that what you may.

Either way, Showbuzz Daily reports that WWE SmackDown drew an average of 1.905 million viewers on Friday night. That number comes from 1.930 million viewers during hour one and 1.879 million viewers for hour two. This is up from last week's July 3rd edition of the show, which drew an average of 1.777 million viewers. However, that show was part of a holiday weekend, so we would expect the numbers to increase somewhat this week.

In terms of pure viewership, SmackDown eighth place among network competition on Friday night. The show was outdrawn by Shark Tank, Truth and Lies: The Jeffrey Epstein Story, MacGyver, Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, The Wall, and Dateline NBC.

In the all important 18-49 age group ratings demographic, SmackDown drew a 0.50 rating in the overnights. That number ranked number one across network television. This ratings figure is up from the 0.40 the show did last week during the Independence Day holiday weekend. It's equal to the rating the show had done for several weeks prior, and it remains substantially down from the 0.70 and 0.80 figures SmackDown regularly drew earlier this year prior to the pandemic.

The 18-34 ratings demo saw SmackDown draw a 0.20 rating, tied with several shows for first place on the night. This is the same rating the show drew in the 18-34 demo next week.

As mentioned, Friday's broadcast on FOX was widely criticized among fans and industry watchers due to the lack of importance the show seemed to have. It featured a karaoke contest, a full replay of Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt from Money In The Bank just over a month ago, and a non-finish in a heavily promoted tag team match featuring the SmackDown Tag Champs The New Day taking on Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.

What did you think of Friday's edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX? Let us know in the comments section below!