Friday’s live edition of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 1.230 million viewers on FS1 cable TV, according to Nielsen, via Wrestlenomics. This final number is down 46.73% from the previous week’s final viewership of 2.309 million viewers for the live show on FOX broadcast TV, and up 36.36% from the 902,000 viewers that the last FS1 cable episode drew on December 2, 2022 for the live post-Survivor Series show.
Friday’s SmackDown drew a 0.36 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This is down 41.93% from the previous week’s 0.62 rating on FOX, and up 44% from the 0.25 key demo rating that the last FS1 episode drew in December. This past week’s 0.36 key demo rating represents 474,000 18-49 viewers, which is down 18.05% from the 808,000 18-49 viewers that the previous week’s 0.62 key demo rating drew, and up 45.4% from the 326,000 18-49 viewers the last FS1 episode drew in December.
Friday’s SmackDown drew the best numbers of any FS1 preemption so far. The episode aired on FS1 due to coverage of the Women’s World Cup of soccer on FOX.
Viewership for Friday’s SmackDown episode was down 45.47% from the same week in 2022, while Friday’s 18-49 key demo rating was down 41.93% from the same week in 2022. This is basically irrelevant as the 2022 show aired on regular broadcast TV, not cable.
Friday’s SmackDown aired live from the Amway Center in Orlando, FL, with the following line-up advertised ahead of time – the second Fatal 4 Way for the WWE United States Title Invitational, plus the SummerSlam Rules of Engagement discussion between Jey Uso and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, which was the show-closing 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 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Royal Rumble episode)
February 10 Episode: 2.468 million viewers with a 0.64 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 17 Episode: 2.383 million viewers with a 0.58 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 24 Episode: 2.408 million viewers with a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Elimination Chamber episode)
March 3 Episode: 2.451 million viewers with a 0.59 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 10 Episode: 2.320 million viewers with a 0.63 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 17 Episode: 2.258 million viewers with a 0.59 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 24 Episode: 2.219 million viewers with a 0.58 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 31 Episode: 2.484 million viewers with a 0.69 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 7 Episode: 2.468 million viewers with a 0.69 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-WrestleMania 39 episode)
April 14 Episode: 2.265 million viewers with a 0.58 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 21 Episode: 2.175 million viewers with a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 28 Episode: 2.473 million viewers with a 0.67 rating in the 18-49 demographic (WWE Draft episode)
May 5 Episode: 2.059 million viewers with a 0.52 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 12 Episode: 2.149 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Backlash episode)
May 19 Episode: 2.133 million viewers with a 0.53 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 26 Episode: 2.158 million viewers with a 0.52 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 2 Episode: 2.563 million viewers with a 0.73 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Night of Champions episode)
June 9 Episode: 2.278 million viewers with a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 16 Episode: 2.430 million viewers with a 0.67 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 23 Episode: 2.354 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 30 Episode: 2.510 million viewers with a 0.69 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Taped episode)
July 7 Episode: 2.561 million viewers with a 0.76 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Money In the Bank episode)
July 14 Episode: 2.309 million viewers with a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demographic
July 21 Episode: 1.230 million viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic (FS1 cable episode)
July 28 Episode:
2022 Viewership Average: 2.123 million viewers per episode over 52 episodes
2022 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average: 0.51 rating per episode over 52 episodes
2022 FOX Viewership Average: 2.173 million viewers per episode over 50 episodes
2022 FOX 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average:
2021 Viewership Average: 2.050 million viewers per episode over 52 episodes (2,082,154 without Best Of episode)
2021 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average: 0.54 rating per episode over 52 episodes (0.55 without Best Of episode)
2021 FOX Viewership Average: 2.127 million viewers per episode over 50 episodes
2021 FOX 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average: 0.56 rating per episode over 50 episodes
2021 FS1 Viewership Average: 758,667 viewers per episode (includes Best Of episode; 949,000 without it)
2021 FS1 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average: 0.20 rating per episode (includes Best Of episode; 0.27 without it)
2020 Viewership Average: 2.180 million viewers per episode (2 FS1 airings)
2019 Viewership Average: 2.164 million viewers per episode (1 FS1 airing)
2018 Viewership Average: 2.352 million viewers per episode
2017 Viewership Average: 2.546 million viewers per episode
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