Payback Go-Home Episode of WWE SmackDown Draws Massive Viewership and Dominates Key Demo Rating

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WWE SmackDown Viewership and Key Demo Rating for the Payback Go-Home Episode

WWE SmackDown Viewership and Key Demo Rating for the Payback Go-Home Episode

Friday’s live Payback go-home edition of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 2.443 million viewers on FOX, according to Nielsen, via Wrestlenomics. This final number is down 7.70% from the previous week’s final viewership of 2.647 million viewers for the tribute show to Bray Wyatt and WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk.

Friday’s SmackDown drew a 0.65 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This is down 16.66% from the previous week’s 0.78 rating. This past week’s 0.65 key demo rating represents 848,000 18-49 viewers, which is down 17.02% from the 1.022 million 18-49 viewers that the 0.78 key demo rating drew the previous week.

SmackDown ranked #1 on broadcast TV for Friday night, for the sixth week in a row, according to spoilertv.com. Friday’s show drew the second-highest total audience of the year so far, and the sixth-highest key demo rating of the year so far. Friday’s viewership and key demo rating were well above the 2022 FOX average for the blue brand. Friday’s SmackDown viewership was down 7.70% from the previous week, and the key demo rating was down 16.66% from the previous week.

Viewership for Friday’s SmackDown episode was up 17.62% from the same week in 2022, while Friday’s 18-49 key demo rating was up 32.65% from the same week in 2022. The 2022 episode was the taped Clash at The Castle go-home show.

Friday’s Payback go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX aired live from the GIANT Center in Hershey, PA, with the following line-up advertised ahead of time – the go-home build for WWE Payback, John Cena’s return to WWE TV, Jimmy Uso’s first appearance since Jey Uso “quit” weeks before, Austin Theory and Grayson Waller vs. Santos Escobar and 2023 WWE Hall of Famer & United States Champion Rey Mysterio, plus a war of words between LA Knight and The Miz. The main event ended up being Solo Sikoa vs. AJ Styles.

Below is our 2023 SmackDown Viewership Tracker, along with the Top 10 moments from Friday’s show:

  • January 6 Episode: 2.257 million viewers with a 0.53 rating in the 18-49 demographic
  • January 13 Episode: 2.326 million viewers with a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demographic
  • January 20 Episode: 2.257 million viewers with a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demographic
  • January 27 Episode: 2.544 million viewers with a 0.67 rating in the 18-49 demographic
  • February 3 Episode: 2.384 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Royal Rumble episode)

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