WWE SmackDown Ratings Remain Steady But Show Not Capitalizing On Larger TV Audience

This week's initial WWE SmackDown ratings figures are in and WWE's Friday night broadcast on FOX [...]

This week's initial WWE SmackDown ratings figures are in and WWE's Friday night broadcast on FOX continues to remain remarkably steady with its numbers drawn during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the show has slipped a bit in the cable rankings as other broadcasts seem to be picking up even more viewers while SmackDown stays steady. Friday night's show drew an average of 2.563 million viewers according to the overnight figures published to Showbuzz Daily. This number was a slight increase from last week's show, which drew an average of 2.470 million viewers.

In terms of raw viewership, SmackDown ranked eighth for the night on network television. The show finished behind Shark Tank, 20/20, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, and Dateline.

In the key 18-49 age group ratings demographic that SmackDown has consistently won since the show moved to FOX in October, the show slipped to number four for the night this week with a 0.75 demo rating. WWE trailed The Blacklist (0.80), 20/20 (0.80), and Shark Tank (1.10).

These numbers illustrate that other programs are drawing in more of the available audience with much of the United States quarantined at home, while WWE's viewership has been close to unchanged, neither falling much or gaining much in either direction.

WWE's March viewership has been 2.456 million (March 6th), 2.470 million (March 13th), and 2.563 million (March 20th). Their 18-49 demo ratings, in the same order, have been 0.70, 0.70, and 0.75. Over the same period, Shark Tank has seen their key demo rating go from a 0.80 to a 1.10. In total viewership, Shark Tank's audience has gone from 4.372 million on March 6th to 5.969 million this week, an increase of nearly 1.6 million. Over the same period, SmackDown's viewership (as illustrated above) has increased by just over 100,000.

That said, when breaking down the numbers further, SmackDown did win the 18-34 age group ratings demographic this week, drawing a 0.60 rating. This particular demographic for WWE has seen a marked increase, going from a 0.40 to a 0.60 over the last three weeks. Shark Tank, for example, drew a 0.50 in that demo. So while WWE has seen an increase in this sliver of the audience demographic, Shark Tank's rise with the above 34 crowd has far outpaced WWE, allowing them to dominate total viewership and the overall 18-49 key demo.

This week's SmackDown was headlined by a contract signing between Roman Reigns and Bill Goldberg for their WrestleMania 36 Universal Championship match.

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

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