WWE SmackDown Rating Jumps 41% In Key Demo For Post-Night Of Champions Episode

This past Friday, the first "WWE SmackDown" of June was coming off of Night of Champions six days earlier, which climaxed with Jimmy Uso superkicking Roman Reigns and costing The Bloodline the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. It seems the latest development in the company's long-running top storyline drove a lot of interest. According to reporting from ShowBuzzDaily and Wrestlenomics, the June 2 "SmackDown" averaged 2,563,000 viewers across its two hours (up 19% from the previous week), approximately 955,000 of which were in the "key demo" most valued by advertisers, adults aged 18 to 49 (up 41% from the week prior). The latter figure translates to a 0.73 rating in 18 to 49, making it far and away the top show in the demo on Friday among both cable originals and broadcast prime time.

The total viewership was the highest since the December 30 episode that featured John Cena, but you have to go back much further for the previous high-water marks in the key demo. It was the biggest number the show had done in 18 to 49 since Christmas Day 2020, which had an NFL lead-in, and the biggest before that was March 20, 2020, the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown episode of WWE programming. The boost also wasn't just due to a lack of professional sports competition — last week's "SmackDown" also didn't have any competition from the NBA or NHL playoffs, and didn't see anything near these numbers.

For a more extensive picture, the Wrestlenomics Patreon page tracks how "SmackDown" did in various demographics in relation to the median of the prior four weeks' numbers. By that metric, every demographic was up significantly. The biggest percentage increase came in men aged 18 to 34, with a 60% jump over the median, followed by adults aged 18 to 34 at 53%, and women aged 18 to 34 at 43%. The Wrestlenomics Patreon page also reported quarter-hour viewership for the episode, showing that the audience increased throughout the show and peaked with the Bloodline segment in the final quarter.