Friday Night SmackDown fell to its lowest viewership on Fox since August while finishing second among network programs.
The November 5th edition of the show averaged 2,093,000 viewers and 740,000 (0.57) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
SmackDown returned to Fox after airing on FS1 the previous week due to the network’s coverage of the World Series. Without competition from baseball, SmackDown still fell to its lowest viewership average on Fox since August 14th and lowest 18-49 audience on the network since September 24th.
SmackDown was down 7 percent in viewers and 2.5 percent in 18-49 from the October 22nd episode, which was the last show on Fox.
WWE ranked second for the night among all network programming behind ABC’s Shark Tank that did 0.60 in the 18-49 demo. SmackDown was #1 in 18-34 among the network’s programs.
SmackDown featured a “Bend the Knee” match between King Woods and Jimmy Uso that culminated in an attack by The Bloodline on the New Day to end the show. Due to the U.K. tour, several performers including Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks did not appear on the episode.
In Canada, SmackDown did not finish among the top ten sports broadcasts that night, which is a rarity. Friday’s sports competition included two CFL football games, the Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, a pair of NHL games, and the New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks. SmackDown finished below the tenth-ranked program, which averaged 150,600 viewers.
