WWE SmackDown draws lowest ratings since move to USA

Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 1.378 million viewers on the USA Network, down 16.6% from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience the show has done since moving back to the network last month and the lowest overall since a ‘best of’ show on December 29th of last year.

SmackDown averaged a 0.42 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 14.3% from last week and also is the lowest since the move back to USA. Aside from last year’s ‘best of’ show, it’s the lowest rating the show has done in that category for a live show since November 24th of last year when it aired on FS1.

The show faced tougher than usual competition, airing head-to-head with MLB’s Divisional Championship coverage on TBS and FS1 as well as Game 4 of the WNBA Final on ESPN and the usual college football on FOX.

As compared to the same week in 2023 on FOX, the overall viewership was down 38.8% while the 18-49 rating was down 28.8%.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for WWE SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. The first five weeks were FOX airings with the last six airing on the USA Network. This week’s show was down 24.9% in overall viewers and 19.2% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.