SmackDown ratings, viewers down for WrestleMania fallout

Well, that’s not ideal.

The April 16 SmackDown was the first episode after WrestleMania 37, an event which was main evented by two matches featuring the brand’s stars. It was the debut of a new announce team featuring sports personality Pat McAfee. And it was live after a pre-taped episode last week.

A numbers bump was to be expected given those circumstances. But at least in the overnights, there was only a dip.

The two hour average viewership fell just under two million, a roughly 4% drop from last Friday’s overnight audience. The 18 - 49 year old demographic rating also dropped slightly due to the lack of a second hour increase for the first time in a month.

It didn’t change FOX’s position in relation to other broadcast nationals. SmackDown still tied for second place in the key demos behind ABC’s Shark Tank (and in 18 - 49, CBS’ Blue Bloods, too).

Here are the fast nationals:

Showbuzz Daily

And here’s our running tracker of overnight numbers for the current season. You can also access the tab of year one numbers here (all data still via Showbuzz Daily).

There was very little announced in advance for this episode, and major stars - including three people who took part in those aforementioned ‘Mania main events - didn’t even appear. That couldn’t have helped, but a post-’Mania drop is still a surprise.

But maybe it shouldn’t be? Last year’s fallout show was also down 3% in viewers.

Give us your best ratings analysis below, Cagesiders.

For complete results and the live blog for SmackDown this week click here. To read a review of the night’s events click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.