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After a battle royal main event led the blue brand to 2.79 million viewers last week, SmackDown went head-to-head with WWE Hall of Famer and current Commander in Chief on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Coverage of President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress drew eyeballs to a variety of channels, and saw WWE’s numbers drop down to 2.57 million - their smallest Tuesday audience in February.
Even so, just staying in the range they’ve been occupying all year is a win, considering Trump’s speech was watched by more than 40 million people across a variety of networks. SmackDown was 15th among cable programs in viewership, and finished 7th among the 18 - 49 demographic, where every show above them was covering the President’s address.
Expect the number to bounce back next week without similar competition and as fans tune in for updates on hot angles started this week involving John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse, Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton and AJ Styles against management.
For complete results and the live blog for SmackDown this week click here. To read a complete recap & review of all the night’s events click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.