WWE SmackDown Draws Best Viewership Since April

This week's post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE SmackDown, featuring fallout from the pay-per-view with Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens in the main event, drew 2.122 million viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.

This is up a whopping 15% from last week's 1.853 million viewers, which was the third-lowest SmackDown audience for a non-holiday first-run episode in history. This is the best blue brand viewership since the April 16 Superstar Shakeup episode, which drew 2.219 million viewers. The last regular episodes to do better were the April 2 episode, which drew 2.141 million viewers, and the post-WrestleMania 35 show, which drew 2.199 million viewers. This is the first episode to draw over 2 million since the June 4 episode, which drew 2.016 million viewers.

This week's SmackDown featured several notable matches and segments advertised ahead of time, including Shane McMahon's Town Hall meeting and a career-altering announcement from Daniel Bryan, among others. There was also extra buzz going into this show as it was believed that new SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff would be taking over this week, but that wasn't the case.

SmackDown was #7 for the night in viewership on cable, behind Hannity, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Rachel Maddow Show, The Five, The Ingraham Angle, and Special Report. SmackDown was #1 in the Cable Top 150 18-49 demographic this week.

The big draw on network TV at 8pm was America's Got Talent on NBC, which drew 9.534 million viewers.

To compare, Monday's post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW drew an average of 2.453 million viewers, up from last week's 2.352 million viewers.

Below is our 2019 SmackDown Viewership Tracker:

January 1 Episode: 2.091 million viewers (New Year's episode, taped)
January 8 Episode: 2.032 million viewers
January 15 Episode: 2.143 million viewers
January 22 Episode: 2.142 million viewers
January 29 Episode: 2.137 million viewers (post-Royal Rumble episode)
February 5 Episode: 1.841 million viewers (State of the Union competition)
February 12 Episode: 2.034 million viewers
February 19 Episode: 2.269 million viewers (post-Elimination Chamber episode)
February 26 Episode: 2.150 million viewers
March 5 Episode: 2.155 million viewers
March 12 Episode: 2.198 million viewers (post-Fastlane episode)
March 19 Episode: 2.208 million viewers
March 26 Episode: 2.393 million viewers
April 2 Episode: 2.141 million viewers
April 9 Episode: 2.199 million viewers (post-WrestleMania 35 episode)
April 16 Episode: 2.219 million viewers (Superstar Shakeup episode)
April 23 Episode: 2.072 million viewers
April 30 Episode: 1.833 million viewers
May 7 Episode: 1.931 million viewers
May 14 Episode: 1.827 million viewers (taped episode from London)
May 21 Episode: 1.983 million viewers (post-Money In the Bank episode)
May 28 Episode: 2.072 million viewers
June 4 Episode: 2.016 million viewers
June 11 Episode: 1.930 million viewers (post-Super ShowDown episode)
June 18 Episode: 1.859 million viewers
June 25 Episode: 1.921 million viewers (post-Stomping Grounds episode)
July 2 Episode: 1.890 million viewers
July 9 Episode: 1.853 million viewers
July 16 Episode: 2.122 million viewers (post-Extreme Rules episode)
July 23 Episode:

2018 Total: 122.304 million viewers
2018 Average: 2.352 million viewers per episode

2017 Total: 132.401 million viewers
2017 Average: 2.546 million viewers per episode