Friday’s live edition of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 2.323 million viewers on FOX, according to Nielsen, via Wrestlenomics. This final number is up 88.86% from the previous week’s final viewership of 1.230 million viewers for the live show on FS1 cable TV, and up 0.61% from the 2.309 million viewers that the last FOX broadcast episode drew on July 14.
Friday’s SmackDown drew a 0.61 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This is up 69.44% from the previous week’s 0.36 rating on FS1, and down 1.61% from the 0.62 key demo rating that the last FOX episode on July 14. This past week’s 0.61 key demo rating represents 801,000 18-49 viewers, which is down 0.86% from the 808,000 18-49 viewers that the 0.62 key demo rating drew for the July 14 show.
Friday’s SmackDown drew the sixteenth-highest total audience of the year so far, for FOX airings, and the eighth-highest key demo rating of the year, tied with two other episodes. Friday’s show drew more than the 2022 FOX average in viewership and the key demo rating. Friday’s SmackDown viewership was up 0.61% from the last FOX episode, and the key demo rating was down 1.61% from the last FOX episode.
Viewership for Friday’s SmackDown episode was up 5.93% from the same week in 2022, while Friday’s 18-49 key demo rating was up 17.30% from the same week in 2022. The 2022 episode was the SummerSlam go-home show.
Friday’s SmackDown aired live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the following line-up advertised ahead of time – Karrion Kross vs. Karl Anderson, the finals of the WWE United States Title Invitational with Santos Escobar vs. 2023 WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio, plus Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Jey Uso preparing for Tribal Combat at SummerSlam. The main event ended up being Jey vs. Grayson Waller.
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: 2.323 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the 18-49 demographic
August 4 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: 0.53 rating per episode over 50 episodes
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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