As WrestleMania draws closer, Friday Night SmackDown continues its wave of momentum finishing first among network programs for the night.
The March 4th edition of the show from Miami averaged 2,261,000 viewers and approximately 765,000 (0.59) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
It represents the second-best numbers of 2022 for SmackDown in each category. It was the show’s highest viewership since January 7th and the best 18-49 audience since January 21st.
Viewership was up by seven percent compared with last week while the 18-49 audience grew by three percent. Its 18-34 audience saw a five percent uptick this week.
SmackDown was the #1 show on television on Friday with an ABC special on Vladimir Putin finishing second with 0.48 in 18-49. SmackDown also finished first in 18-34 and tied for first in 25-54.
The show went against the NBA game between Chicago and Milwaukee, which finished first on cable with 1,493,000 viewers and 0.44 in 18-49 on ESPN.
It was a heavily promoted edition of SmackDown featuring Ronda Rousey’s first match on free television since her return in January and two championship matches that were advertised in advance.
The number correlated with a boost in its Canadian viewership with SmackDown experiencing a twelve percent jump in overall viewership to 171,600 (its second-highest number of 2022) and 67,200 in the 25-54 demo on Sportsnet 360.
There are four episodes of SmackDown remaining until WrestleMania with this Friday’s show taking place from Birmingham, Alabama with both Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey advertised on the WWE’s live event page.
