Friday Night SmackDown had another first-place finish among network programming while being pre-empted in several markets.
The August 12th show from Raleigh averaged 1,927,000 viewers and approximately 574,000 (0.44) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
Due to the NFL pre-season game, SmackDown was not carried in some markets and led to a higher than normal overnight viewership figure, which was boosted due to the game.
SmackDown fell by eight percent in overall viewership, it was down ten percent in the 18-49 demo, and dropped by 16 percent among adults 18-34. It was the show’s lowest 18-34 audience since May 27th.
The show was still the top show among network programming beating out Univision’s prime time schedule and ABC’s Shark Tank and 20/20, which were repeats.
It was SmackDown’s lowest viewership since June 10th and lowest in the 18-49 demo since that same week, which did the identical amount.
The show featured a show-long build for the Intercontinental Championship match between Gunther and Shinsuke Nakamura and the return of Hit Row to the company.
In Canada, SmackDown averaged 149,000 viewers and 72,200 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360, which ranked fifth among sports programming that night and led by the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Guardians.
