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SmackDown’s numbers were down from a week ago on Jan. 9, but they remain strong compared to their own from the recent past and a year ago - and in comparison to WWE’s Monday night flagship, Raw.
The AJ Styles’ title reign, complete with the continuing drama between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, got 2,603,000 to tune in last night. That was eighth among cable originals in viewership and down a little more than 100,000 viewers from last week, but still above where they were in early January of 2017 (2.53 million on Jan. 10) and only approximately 157,000 less than Raw drew the night before.
Demographic share was also down among 18 - 49 year olds at .76, but that was still good enough to win the night for WWE.
Is it the champ? Does managerial strife really sell? Are people just looking for diversions? Debate the numbers, and consider this list of from the past six months (including overall 18 - 49 year old ratings for 2018 episodes) while you do so:
Jan. 2 - 2.72 million / .82
Dec. 26 - 2.66 million
Dec. 19 - 2.58 million
Dec. 12 - 2.48 million
Dec. 5 - 2.49 million
Nov. 28 - 2.68 million
Nov. 21 - 2.66 million
Nov. 14 - 2.61 million
Nov. 7 - 2.6 million
Oct. 31 - 2.12 million
Oct. 24 - 2.7 million
Oct. 17 - 2.32 million
Oct. 10 - 2.47 million
Oct. 3 - 2.32 million
Sept. 26 - 2.54 million
Sept. 19 - 2.51 million
Sept. 12 - 2.75 million
Sept. 5 - 2.58 million
Aug. 29 - 2.46 million
Aug. 22 - 2.69 million
Aug. 15 - 2.53 million
Aug. 8 - 2.58 million
Aug. 1 - 2.57 million
July 25 - 2.54 million
July 18 - 2.55 million
July 11 - 2.47 million
July 4 - 2.32 million
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.
Source: Showbuzz Daily