WWE SmackDown Hits Year’s Second-Highest Viewer Count, Tremendous Surge in Key Demo Rating

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WWE SmackDown Draws Second-Best Viewership of the Year, Key Demo Rating Also Way Up

WWE SmackDown Draws Second-Best Viewership of the Year, Key Demo Rating Also Way Up

Friday’s live edition of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 2.569 million viewers on FOX, according to Nielsen, via Wrestlenomics. This final number is up 22.68% from the previous week’s final viewership of 2.094 million viewers for the post-Payback show.

Friday’s SmackDown drew a 0.70 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This is up 32.07% from the previous week’s 0.53 rating. This past week’s 0.70 key demo rating represents 918,000 18-49 viewers, which is up 32.66% from the 692,000 18-49 viewers that the 0.53 key demo rating drew the previous week.

SmackDown ranked #1 on broadcast TV for Friday night, for the eighth week in a row, according to spoilertv.com. This is the sixth SmackDown episode to draw more than 2.5 million viewers in 2023 so far. Friday’s show drew the second-highest total audience of the year so far, behind the tribute episode for Bray Wyatt and WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk on August 25, and the fourth-highest key demo rating of the year so far. Excluding the August 25 tribute episode, this was the highest SmackDown audience going back to the December 30, 2022 episode. Friday’s viewership and key demo rating were both well above the 2022 FOX average. Friday’s SmackDown viewership was up 22.68% from the previous week, and the key demo rating was up 32.07% from the previous week.

Viewership for Friday’s SmackDown episode was up 16.14% from the same week in 2022, while Friday’s 18-49 key demo rating was up 40% from the same week in 2022.

Friday’s SmackDown on FOX aired live from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, with the following line-up advertised ahead of time – LA Knight vs. The Miz, Asuka vs. Bayley, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles, plus John Cena appearing on The Grayson Waller Effect, which was the show-closing segment. While not officially announced by WWE, it was heavily rumored that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Pat McAfee would be making an appearance, and they did in the opening segment.

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

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