ThunderDome does its job, boosts SmackDown TV numbers

WWE was counting on a change of scenery, and an infusion of production dollars to add lasers, pyro, and fan reactions streamed onto thousands of LED screens, to turn around their flat ratings and declining viewership.

At least for its premiere on Fri., Aug. 21, ThunderDome did its job.

Ratings went up in the under 35 and under 50 demos, winning the night for SmackDown and Fox among the broadcast networks. Viewership over the two hours was up almost 10% to 2.168 million.

It was also the go home show for SummerSlam, and a rare Vince McMahon appearance was promoted all day leading up to the primetime start. The trick will be seeing how well the updated product holds viewers in the weeks to come. But for a night, WWE will call this a win.

Here are the fast nationals:

Showbuzz Daily

And here’s our running tracker of every other episode since WWE moved to Fridays last fall (all data via Showbuzz Daily):

SmackDown will look to make it four weeks of rising viewership next Friday with the SummerSlam fallout episode. Like their odds?

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.