WWE Smackdown Viewership & Ratings Report, 9/20/2024

The September 20 edition of "WWE SmackDown," the second week of the show airing on USA Network following the switch from Fox, saw a steep decline in overall viewership and the key demographic rating.

"WrestleNomics" reports that the blue brand's average viewership dropped from 1,723,000 — for the September 13 season premiere — to 1,494,000 viewers, a 13 percent reduction. Last week's viewership, when compared to the trailing four-week average, saw an even bigger drop, decreasing by 21 percent. The Friday night show is also down compared to the corresponding monthly average from 2023, as it performed 29 percent better last September. The report attributes some of the decline to Fox being present in more households than USA Network.

The key 18-49 demographic rating saw an even bigger drop compared to the previous week's show, as the September 20 episode secured only a 0.45 rating, an 18 percent decline from the September 13 show. The trailing four-week average also fell by 13 percent, while the show has performed 23 percent worse when comparing the September 2024 rating to September 2023.

Last week's "SmackDown," though, ranked #1 on cable for the night, ahead of ESPN's College Football Prime game between Stanford and Syracuse, as per "Programming Insider." The show was also #3 in the rankings for primetime shows in the 18-49 key demographic, behind Fox's College Football Friday game between Nebraska Cornhuskers and Illinois Fighting Illini, and the kickoff show for the aforementioned game.

This coming week's "SmackDown" show, which will be held in Oklahoma City, will be the penultimate show of the blue brand before WWE's next Premium Live Event, Bad Blood.