WWE SmackDown Draws Lowest FOX Rating To Date

WWE SmackDown set a record on Friday night according to the overnight ratings, and it wasn't a good one. According to the numbers released by Showbuzz Daily, SmackDown drew an average audience this week of 1.777 million viewers, down considerably from 2.174 million last week. Some of this drop can surely be assigned to the fact that it is a holiday weekend in the United States. The number comes from hour one drawing 1.797 million viewers and hour two coming in with 1.756 million viewers.

In the coveted 18-49 age group ratings demographic, SmackDown drew a 0.40 rating in the overnights, the lowest the show has done on the FOX network. However, other programming also felt the hit during the holiday weekend, and SmackDown's 0.40 ranked number two on network television on Friday night. The show was defeated by The Wall and Shark Tank, both drawing a 0.50. SmackDown had drawn a 0.50 for the last four weeks straight.

In terms of pure viewership, SmackDown came in at number nine for the night on network television. It was defeated by Shark Tank, 20/20, Dick Van Dyke Show - Now in Living Color, Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, The World of Dance, The Wall, and Dateline NBC.

Among 18-34 year olds on Friday night, SmackDown did a 0.20 rating which ranked number two for the night, being defeated by Dateline NBC. That is a demo that SmackDown almost always wins on Friday nights among network competition.

Friday night's show was a pretty good one by recent standards. The show featured two excellent matches: Matt Riddle vs. John Morrison and AJ Styles vs. Drew Gulak. There was also a good Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kofi Kingston match and an entertaining segment/match between Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. Unfortunately, the show-ended with another controversial segment between Jeff Hardy and Sheamus which made light of Hardy's well known history of alcohol abuse.