WWE SmackDown ratings down for pre-taped episode

Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 2.272 million viewers on Fox, down 11.1 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total the show has done so far in 2024.

SmackDown drew a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 17.3 percent from last week and matches the lowest rating the show has done in that category for 2024 to date. SmackDown did top all network programming in the key demo despite the week-to-week drop.

With WWE running its Elimination Chamber event in Perth the next day, this SmackDown episode was taped a week in advance. Previous taped shows had not seen this type of decline, however.

As compared to the same week in 2023, SmackDown’s overall audience was down 5.7 percent while its 18-49 rating was exactly even. It’s the first time this year the show hasn’t had a year-over-year increase in the 18-49 demo.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 1.4 percent in overall viewers and down 1.6 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.