The WWE Draft edition of Friday Night SmackDown saw the program drop to its lowest viewership of the year airing against the NFL Draft and NBA & NHL playoffs.
The April 26 episode from Cincinnati averaged 2,143,000 viewers and 762,000 (0.58) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics and Sports Media Watch.
SmackDown experienced an eight percent decline in those figures from the prior week leading to its lowest performance in those categories since December 2023.
The show aired against the second night’s coverage of the NFL Draft, which drew 2,692,000 viewers on ABC (0.62 in the dem), 1,561,000 viewers (0.51) on ESPN 2, and 793,000 viewers (0.25) on the NFL Network.
SmackDown also aired against the L.A. Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks, which won the night with 3,342,000 viewers and a 1.17 rating in the core demo on ESPN.
The New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game on TNT averaged 629,000 viewers and 0.21 in the demo.
In Canada, SmackDown was shifted to the smaller OLN Network and fell outside of the top ten sports programs on Friday with an average of 88,000 viewers and 36,000 in the 25-54 demographic.
