Friday Night SmackDown experienced a decrease from last week’s show involving Kurt Angle while AEW Rampage scored its highest numbers since October.
The December 16th edition of Friday Night SmackDown averaged 2,191,000 viewers and approximately 678,000 (0.52) in the 18-49 demographic as it ranked first among network programming on Friday. (Data from Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily)
Its viewership fell 5% with the 18-49 audience slipping 8% from the previous week. It was SmackDown’s lowest demo audience on Fox since November 4th for a taped episode the night before Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
In the key demo, female viewership dropped by 12% with males down by 6%, a similar trend in both the 18-34 and 35-49 with each category down but a larger drop among females.
The show aired against the Golden State Warriors vs. Philadelphia 76ers game (1.48 million viewers and 0.44) on ESPN, and a college football game (1.05 million and 0.20) on ESPN 2.
This Friday’s episode of SmackDown is a taped show from Chicago with the show returning live on 12/30 with John Cena set to team with Kevin Owens against Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn.
In Canada, SmackDown averaged 146,000 viewers and 47,200 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360, which ranked third for the night among sports programs behind the Toronto Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets and an NHL game.
AEW Rampage scored its largest audience since October as the show ranked #15 among cable originals on Friday.
The December 16th taped edition of averaged 464,000 viewers and approximately 197,000 (0.15) in the 18-49 demographic, their best marks since October 21 & October 14 respectively.
Rampage’s overall audience grew by 15% and the key demo category spiked 32% from last week’s figures for a show highlighted by Jon Moxley wrestling Sammy Guevara in the opening match.
In the 18-49 demo, female viewership was up by 32% and males jumped by 30%.
Adults 18-34 increased by 17% to its highest mark since the live episode on November 18th in Newark on the night before Full Gear.
Adults 35-49 were up by 37% from last week’s show.
Rampage aired against the L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets (1.61 million viewers and 0.53 in 18-49), which was the top program on cable on Friday, and also aired against the same college football game on ESPN 2 that aired against SmackDown.
Young Rock on NBC averaged 1,528,000 viewers and 0.26 in the demo against the first half hour of SmackDown. Among the major four networks, it was fifth in the demo and last in overall viewership.
