The numbers for the May 8 episode of SmackDown are in, and the backlash to Backlash continued for WWE.
Not only were viewers down from the week prior, but at 2,293,000, it was the smallest audience the blue brand’s drawn since Halloween of last year. If there’s any consolation for the company, it’s that the other time SmackDown’s viewership dropped below 2.3 million in 2017 was in May and June, so this isn’t a great time of year.
That didn’t change the fact they had to go up against basketball and primary election results, however. WWE had the tenth biggest audience among cable originals on the night, behind two NBA Playoff games and numerous political talk shows on Fox News and MSNBC.
The rating among 18 - 49 year olds was also down to .71, fourth best behind NBA programming.
Here’s a list of SmackDown’s numbers over the past six months (including overall 18 - 49 year old ratings for 2018 episodes), all of which are better than the ones for this PPV fallout show:
May 1 - 2.44 million / .77
April 24 - 2.55 million / .8
April 17 - 2.8 million / .98
April 10 - 2.95 million / .98
April 3 - 2.47 million / .79
Mar. 27 - 2.57 million / .78
Mar. 20 - 2.89 million / .99
Mar. 13 - 2.77 million / .91
Mar. 6 - 2.59 million / .75
Feb. 28 - 2.69 million / .86
Feb. 20 - 2.61 million / .8
Feb. 13 - 2.45 million / .76
Feb. 6 - 2.51 million / .75
Jan. 30 - 2.51 million / .76
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
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