SmackDown gets a reminder of what Friday night cable ratings are like

SmackDown will be back on USA Network at this time next year. One of the good things about that is the show won’t be pre-empted by baseball’s World Series, as it was on Oct. 27 and very well could be again on Nov. 3.

But a downside of leaving FOX is WWE’s blue show won’t be on broadcast television any more. And while there were other factors at play, such as competition from the battle for Major League Baseball’s championship and USA being a bigger network than FS1 (where SmackDown aired last Friday), the episode’s ratings are a reminder they’re not going to keep pulling two million viewers on Friday nights when they’re back on cable.

According to Wrestlenomics, the Oct. 27 SmackDown drew a total audience of 1,145,000. It did a .35 rating among 18-49 year olds. Both are obviously down from the previous week’s episode on FOX. They’re also down from July 21, the last episode that got bumped to FS1.

Discuss amongst yourselves in the comments below, if you’re so inclined. If it aids that conversation, here’s a rundown of the past year’s worth of SmackDown’s numbers:

• Oct. 28, 2022* - 835K / .23
• Nov. 4 - 2.14 million / .48
• Nov. 11 - 2.26 / .58
• Nov. 18 - 2.23 / .56
• Nov. 25 - 2.17 / .54
• Dec. 2* - 902K / .25
• Dec. 9 - 2.31 million / .57
• Dec. 16 - 2.19 / .52
• Dec. 23 - 2.38 / .55
• Dec. 30 - 2.63 / .64
• Jan. 6, 2023 - 2.26 / .53
• Jan. 13 - 2.33 / .55
• Jan. 20 - 2.26 / .55
• Jan. 27 - 2.54 / .67
• Feb. 3 - 2.38 / .61
• Feb. 10 - 2.47 / .64
• Feb. 17 - 2.38 / .58
• Feb. 24 - 2.41 / .62
• Mar. 3 - 2.45 / .59
• Mar. 10 - 2.32 / .63
• Mar. 17 - 2.26 / .59
• Mar. 24 - 2.22 / .58
• Mar. 31 - 2.49 / .69
• April 7 - 2.47 / .69
• April 14 - 2.27 / .58
• April 21 - 2.18 / .54
• April 28 - 2.47 / .67
• May 5 - 2.06 / .52
• May 12 - 2.15 / .56
• May 19 - 2.13 / .53
• May 26 - 2.16 / .52
• June 2 - 2.56 / .73
• June 9 - 2.28 / .60
• June 16 - 2.43 / .67
• June 23 - 2.35 / .61
• June 30 - 2.51 / .69
• July 7 - 2.56 / .76
• July 14 - 2.31 / .62
• July 21* - 1.23 / .36
• July 28 - 2.32 / .61
• Aug. 4 - 2.25 / .62
• Aug. 11 - 2.1 / .55
• Aug. 18 - 2.09 / .55
• Aug. 25 - 2.65 / .78
• Sept. 1 - 2.44 / .65
• Sept. 8 - 2.09 / .53
• Sept. 15 - 2.57 / .70
• Sept. 22 - 2.23 / .63
• Sept. 29 - 2.30 / .60
• Oct. 6 - 2.32 / .64
• Oct. 13 - 2.42 / .62
• Oct. 20 - 2.25 / .59
• Oct. 28* - 1.15 / .35

* Aired on FS1

For complete results and this week’s SmackDown live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.