WWE SmackDown ratings down despite no major sports competition

Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 2.207 million viewers on Fox, down 4.5 percent from the previous week. It’s the second-highest audience total for SmackDown since April 19. The show ranked fifth on network television in terms of total viewers on the night.

In the 18-49 demo, SmackDown topped network TV with a 0.61 rating, ahead of its closest competitor, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on ABC, by 65 percent. The rating’s down 6.2 percent from last week but is the second-highest number the show has done in that category since May 10.

SmackDown faced no major sports competition with no NBA Finals or NHL Stanley Cup Finals games taking place last Friday.

As compared to the same week in 2023, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 3.1 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 1.7 percent. It’s the fourth week out of the last five that SmackDown has had a year-over-year decline in total viewers.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 2.8 percent in total viewers and down 4.7 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.