The big week leading into Royal Rumble saw SmackDown only treading water with viewers, but maybe this week changed their momentum? Normally, you’d expect to see a boost for a fallout show from WWE’s big pay-per-view (PPV), but on Jan. 30 the blue brand had to go head-to-head with coverage of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech, and the numbers slipped again.
The audience dropped to 2,509,000 - about 71K less than last week. Demographic share among 18 - 49 year olds dipped down to a .76.
As mentioned, the night was dominated by the Chief Executive and WWE Hall of Famer. SmackDown finished 21st in audience size among cable programs, mostly behind news programs covering Trump’s speech, the event at the Capitol itself and the Democratic Party’s response. They weren’t the only shows which bested WWE, however. History’s Curse of Oak Island and HGTV’s Fixer Upper also had more viewers.
In ratings, SmackDown was ninth behind news programs and Oak Island.
Tough to tell exactly what the past two weeks mean, but trending down is never going to be preferable. Put on your ratings analysis hat, and check out this list of the numbers from the past six months (including overall 18 - 49 year old ratings for 2018 episodes):
Jan. 23 - 2.58 million / .8
Jan. 16 - 2.6 million / .78
Jan. 9 - 2.6 million / .76
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