With stiff competition from the NBA & NHL Playoffs and the second night of the NFL Draft on Fri., April 26, SmackDown went with a gimmick that has long been a proven ratings winner for WWE — its own talent draft.
It doesn’t seem to have worked this time, and certainly not the way it often has in the past. According to Wrestlenomics, last Friday’s episode was watched by 2,143,000 viewers and did a .59 rating among 18-49 year old rating. Both are not only down from the previous Friday, they represent the lowest numbers SmackDown has done in either metric since December of last year.
Coverage of the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft were a factor, which SportMediaWatch had drawing 2.69 million viewers and a 0.61 rating in the key demo for ABC. A simulcast on ESPN2 also had an audience of 1.57 million and did a .51 rating. The two basketball playoff games that aired opposite parts of SmackDown on ESPN averaged 2.76 million viewers and .95 in 18-49.
Are fans everywhere smartening up to the fact the WWE Draft just isn’t that exciting? Or was the array of competition for this year’s version just too much for any gimmick show to overcome?
Let us know what you think. And while you gather your thoughts… here’s a rundown of the past year’s worth of SmackDown’s numbers:
- April 28, 2023 – 2.47 million viewers / .67 demo rating
- May 5 – 2.06 / .52
- May 12 – 2.15 / .56
- May 19 – 2.13 / .53
- May 26 – 2.16 / .52
- June 2 – 2.56 / .73
- June 9 – 2.28 / .60
- June 16 – 2.43 / .67
- June 23 – 2.35 / .61
- June 30 – 2.51 / .69
- July 7 – 2.56 / .76
- July 14 – 2.31 / .62
- July 21* – 1.23 / .36
- July 28 – 2.32 / .61
- Aug. 4 – 2.25 / .62
- Aug. 11 – 2.1 / .55
- Aug. 18 – 2.09 / .55
- Aug. 25 – 2.65 / .78
- Sept. 1 – 2.44 / .65
- Sept. 8 – 2.09 / .53
- Sept. 15 – 2.57 / .70
- Sept. 22 – 2.23 / .63
- Sept. 29 – 2.30 / .60
- Oct. 6 – 2.32 / .64
- Oct. 13 – 2.42 / .62
- Oct. 20 – 2.25 / .59
- Oct. 28* – 1.15 / .35
- Nov. 3 – 2.12 / .53
- Nov. 10 – 2.2 / .57
- Nov. 17 – 2.21 / .62
- Nov. 24* – 789,000 / .24
- Dec. 1 – 2.04 million / .59
- Dec. 8 – 2.38 / .63
- Dec. 15 – 2.24 / .55
- Dec. 22 – 2.11 / .55
- Dec. 29** – 1.36 / .28
- Jan. 5, 2024 – 2.47 / .67
- Jan. 12 – 2.38 / .64
- Jan. 19 – 2.41 / .62
- Jan. 26 – 2.48 / .71
- Feb. 2 – 2.47 / .74
- Feb. 9 – 2.58 / .75
- Feb. 16 – 2.56 / .75
- Feb. 23 – 2.27 / .62
- Mar. 1 – 2.35 / .64
- Mar. 8 – 2.44 / .69
- Mar. 15 – 2.34 / .68
- Mar. 22 – 2.24 / .61
- Mar. 29 – 2.20 / .60
- April 5 – 2.60 / .77
- April 12 – 2.5 / .76
- April 19 – 2.33 / .63
- April 26 – 2.14 / .58
* Aired on FS1
** “Best of” clip show
For complete results and this week’s SmackDown live blog click here, to read a recap & review of the night’s events click here, and to check out video highlights of the episode click here.
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