Friday Night SmackDown experienced a sizable drop in its key demographic with a 21 percent loss among its 18-49 audience.
The April 15th edition of the program averaged 2,142,000 viewers and approximately 623,000 (0.48) in the 18-49 demographic, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.
WWE Smackdown, Friday on Fox, 8-10p:
2,142,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.48 (623k)
Lowest P18-49 on Fox since July.AEW Rampage, early start on TNT at 7p:
482,000
P18-49: 0.22 (288k)
Down 12% in P18-49 from last week w/ normal start.📊 More demos & analysis: https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/WKuIaAkXSx
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) April 18, 2022
While SmackDown only fell five percent in overall viewers, the decline was felt among the key demo that posted its lowest number for a live edition of the show on Fox since July 2nd of last year when the show was airing from the ThunderDome without fans in attendance.
The episode of SmackDown that aired on Christmas Eve last December did a lower audience of 603,000 among 18-49.
There was a large loss among males 18-49, which dropped by 25 percent this week, and adults 35-49 declining 24 percent, per Thurston’s data.
There were two NBA games on Friday night with the Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans vs. L.A. Clippers (the latter game didn’t air against SmackDown) – we should have more information on the competition later this week when Showbuzz Daily posts its charts, which are delayed this week.
Friday Night SmackDown was promoted around Ricochet defending the Intercontinental title against Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn. It also featured RK-Bro appearing from Raw and led to a match between Riddle and Jimmy Uso in the main event.
In Canada, SmackDown increased with an average of 171,600 viewers and 79,700 in the 25-54 demo on Sportsnet 360. It was ninth among sports programming for the day, which was led by the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland A’s.
