WWE Smackdown 'Holiday Special' ratings average 3.05 million viewers

by Geno Mrosko on Dec 1, 2011 8:04 PM EST in Smackdown

The ratings are in for this past Tuesday night's (Nov. 29, 2011) live "Holiday Special" episode of WWE Smackdown, which featured Mick Foley as Santa Clause and Mark Henry defending his world heavyweight championship against Daniel Bryan in a steel cage match.

And the numbers look good. PWTorch with the word:

WWE's live Super Smackdown episode on Tuesday, November 29 scored a 2.00 rating, up from the past three taped episodes on Friday nights (1.87, 1.99, and 1.95). It was down compared to the previous live Smackdown special on August 30 that scored a 2.11 rating.

Smackdown averaged 3.05 million viewers, which was slightly above the Friday night range the previous three weeks. It was below the Aug. 30 live special that averaged 3.20 million viewers.

There was plenty of dissension here on Cageside Seats regarding the nature of this show. I felt it was a silly, goofy waste of time, while others found it campy fun and called me a Grinch. That may be so and I may very well be that at times but I just couldn't get behind the lack of anything meaningful on a two-hour live show that normally blows away Raw week after week. Maybe I should have tempered my expectations a bit.

The good news, of course, is that the ratings didn't reflect my opinion being shared amongst the masses. The bad news, however, is that they weren't up in any meaningful way from what Smackdown typically does on Friday night's, meaning a permanent move to Tuesday's with a live format wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, despite the coming competition from UFC early next year.

For complete results from Smackdown this past Tues. click here. And for my reactions, which were widely panned, click here.

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meaning a permanent move to Tuesday’s with a live format wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense, despite the coming competition from UFC early next year.

The fact that Smackdown was live on Tuesday was barely promoted. If it weren’t for your thread announcing live blogging on this website I wouldn’t even have remembered. I can’t be alone in this and ratings probably reflect that a bit.

Moving to Tuesday would still be advantageous even if they still pull the same ratings as they currently do on Fridays. They’ll keep their audience intact instead of having UFC eat away at it.

by Mr. Sunny Days on Dec 1, 2011 8:34 PM EST reply actions

Hey, I'm one of those guys who called you a Grinch! :)

If they moved the show to a new night and kept their audience, I view that as a win. It allows WWE options to move forward. I personally would like if they kept it on Friday, but I think they’ll do fine on either night. Maybe it’s a vast assumption but I think wrestling fans are probally the most mobile audience.

by C. J. Bradford on Dec 1, 2011 8:55 PM EST reply actions

You did call me that and I'll never forgive you! :)

I don’t necessarily mind it being on Friday but I think it would be optimal to corner the early week market. It would be great to have a pay-per-view on Sunday, a live Raw on Monday and a live Smackdown on Tuesday. That’s the other thing — I hate shows being taped with spoilers everywhere and all that. Not that it ruins enjoyment of the eventual show, it’s just an annoyance that could seemingly be avoided rather easily.

Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.

by Geno Mrosko on Dec 2, 2011 1:48 AM EST up reply actions

Save for the huge cost with going live each with, that's a good point.

With recent PPV buy numbers, a slowed economy, and a new network they are trying to get off the ground, who knows of it makes financial sense for WWE to go live. But if they can afford it, then your right it would be better for them to move.

by C. J. Bradford on Dec 2, 2011 3:33 PM EST up reply actions

Don’t doubt yourself Gene, you were right about this show being garbage. Aside from the entertaining Orton match and the solid main event, the rest of the show was filled with embarrassingly awful segments.

It was the kind of show that I would never want to watch around non-fans, as it would just be too embarrassing to deal with their reactions to this mindless crap.

Hopefully the WWE will find a real purpose for Foley soon. He’s been a disaster so far.

by Kanenite on Dec 1, 2011 8:56 PM EST reply actions