Pre-taped episode has SmackDown’s lowest numbers on FOX in two months

The 2023 World Series only went five games, so SmackDown was back on FOX last Friday after a week of being pre-empted to cable. The Nov. 3 episode was pre-taped though, and mostly promised non-wrestling segments that built to the following days Crown Jewel premium live event in Saudi Arabia.

Which is probably why, according to Wrestlenomics, the Nov. 3 SmackDown drew a total audience of 2,119,000. It did a .53 rating among 18-49 year olds. Both are way up from the previous episode on FS1, but lower than the last FOX one — and lower than every edition that aired on the broadcast network going back to Sept. 8.

Competition wasn’t too stiff, either. It came from the NBA, where SportsTVRatings had the New York/Milwaukee game which aired opposite SmackDown on ESPN at 1.6 million viewers and a .51 rating, and a Boston College/Syracuse college football game that had an audience of 1.1 million with a .21 in the demo for ESPN2.

Next week we’ll find out how this Friday’s live show following up on the blue brand’s trip to Saudi Arabia & starting the build to Survivor Series does. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of the past year’s worth of SmackDown’s numbers:

• Nov. 4, 2022 - 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
• Nov. 3 - 2.12 / .53

* 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.