Friday’s live post-Royal Rumble edition of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 2.151 million viewers on FOX, according to Nielsen, via Showbuzz Daily.
This final number is down 1.68% from the previous week’s final viewership of 2.217 million viewers for the Royal Rumble go-home show.
Friday’s SmackDown drew a 0.51 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This is down 12.50% from the previous week’s 0.56 rating. This week’s 0.51 key demo rating represents 667,000 18-49 viewers, which is down 8.50% from the 729,000 18-49 viewers that the previous week’s 0.56 key demo rating drew, according to Wrestlenomics.
SmackDown ranked #2 in ratings for the key 18-49 demographic on network TV, down from the previous week’s #1 ranking. SmackDown ranked #2 in the 18-34 demo this week, down from the previous week’s #1 ranking. SmackDown ranked #3 in the 25-54 demo, in line with the previous week’s #3 ranking. SmackDown came in at #6 for the night in viewership on network TV, up from the previous week’s #7 ranking. The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on NBC topped the night on network TV in viewership this week with a whopping 10.758 million viewers, and in the 18-49 key demographic with a 1.97 rating.
Friday’s post-Royal Rumble edition of SmackDown drew the lowest audience for the show on FOX this year, and the lowest since December 24, while the key demo rating was the lowest on FOX this year, since December 17. Friday’s viewership was down 1.68% from the previous week’s episode, while the key demo rating was down 12.50% from the previous week’s episode.
Viewership for Friday’s SmackDown episode was down 4.69% from the same week in 2021, while Friday’s 18-49 key demo rating was down 21.53% from the same week in 2021. The 2021 episode was also the post-Rumble show.
The NHL All-Stars Skill Competition on ESPN topped the night on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.40 key demo rating, drawing 1.086 million viewers. The Five on FOX News topped the night on cable in viewership with 3.561 million viewers, ranking #5 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.26 key demo rating.
Friday’s live post-Royal Rumble SmackDown from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK had the following line-up advertised ahead of time – Royal Rumble fallout, Paul Heyman re-joining WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre making his return to the show, and Ronda Rousey making her first SmackDown appearance to pick her WrestleMania 38 opponent, which was the show-closing segment.
Stay tuned for more ratings data. Below is our 2022 SmackDown Viewership Tracker, along with the Top 10 moments from Friday’s show:
January 7 Episode: 2.271 million viewers with a 0.58 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Day 1 episode)
January 14 Episode: 2.174 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 21 Episode: 2.255 million viewers with a 0.64 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 28 Episode: 2.217 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 4 Episode: 2.151 million viewers with a 0.51 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Royal Rumble episode)
February 11 Episode:
2021 Viewership Average: 2.050 million viewers per episode (2,082,154 without Best Of episode)
2021 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average: 0.54 rating per episode (0.55 without Best Of episode)
2021 FOX Viewership Average: 2.127 million viewers per episode
2021 FOX 18-49 Key Demo Rating Average: 0.56 rating per episode
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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