WWE SmackDown Draws Under 900K Viewers On FS1, WWE Backstage Viewership Down For Special Airing
Friday's WWE SmackDown episode on FS1 drew 888,000 viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.
SmackDown also drew a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demographic, ranking #9 in the Cable Top 150.
This is down 63% from last Friday's SmackDown episode on FOX, which drew an average of 2.418 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
SmackDown was #18 for the night on cable in viewership, and #9 on the Cable Top 150.
The NBA game between the Jazz and the Lakers topped the night in the 18-59 demographic Cable Top 150 with a 0.74 rating, with just 1.783 million viewers. The Rachel Maddow Show topped the night in viewership with 2.735 million viewers, coming in at #12 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.23 rating in that 18-49 demographic.
The special airing of WWE Backstage, which aired right after SmackDown on FS1, drew 426,000 viewers. Backstage also drew a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The special airing of WWE Backstage that aired back on Tuesday, October 15 drew 597,000 viewers and ranked #25 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Backstage will begin airing weekly on Tuesday, November 5 at 11pm ET on FS1.
As noted, SmackDown aired on FS1 instead of FOX due to the MLB World Series coverage. SmackDown will return to FOX this week.
To compare, last week's pro wrestling viewership looks like this – Monday's post-Draft edition of WWE RAW on the USA Network drew an average of 2.342 million viewers, up from last week's 2.287 million viewers for the Draft episode. RAW was #5 in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 this week, for the third week in a row, with a 0.75 rating. Tuesday's WWE Total Divas episode drew 279,000 viewers on the E! network, down from last week's 281,000 viewers. Total Divas ranked #70 on the Cable Top 150 18-49 demographic list with a 0.12 rating in that demo. AEW Dynamite drew 963,000 viewers, down from the previous week's 1.014 million viewers. Dynamite was #4 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.45 rating in the 18-49 demographic. WWE NXT drew 698,000 viewers, down from the previous week's 712,000 viewers. NXT ranked #21 on the Cable Top 150 in a 0.21 rating in the 18-49 demographic. SmackDown drew 888,000 viewers on FS1, down from the previous week's 2.418 million viewers, and ranked #9 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
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: 2.162 million viewers
July 30 Episode: 1.911 million viewers
August 6 Episode: 2.088 million viewers
August 13 Episode: 2.164 million viewers (post-SummerSlam episode)
August 20 Episode: 2.142 million viewers
August 27 Episode: 2.088 million viewers
September 3 Episode: 2.130 million viewers
September 10 Episode: 2.061 million viewers
September 17 Episode: 2.064 million viewers (post-Clash of Champions episode)
September 24 Episode: 2.099 million viewers (final USA Network episode)
October 4 Episode: 3.888 million viewers (FOX premiere)
October 11 Episode: 2.877 million viewers (WWE Draft episode, post-HIAC)
October 18 Episode: 2.418 million viewers
October 25 Episode: 888,000 viewers (aired on FS1)
November 1 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