On a competitive night for sports programming, WWE SmackDown and AEW Rampage were hurt in their viewership.
The October 18 edition of Friday Night SmackDown from Columbia, South Carolina, averaged 1,378,000 viewers and 560,000 viewers (0.42) in the 18-49 demographic, which were the show’s lowest figures since moving to the USA Network last month. (Data: Wrestlenomics)
The audience dropped by 17% while the 18-49 audience fell by 14% from the previous week.
The competition included both the ALCS (5.1 million viewers and 1.27 in 18-49) & NLCS (4.32 million and 0.96) games, the WNBA finals (1.67 million and 0.41), and a Big 10 college football game on Fox (2,147,000 viewers and 0.48).
However, the show performed well in Canada against the same sports competition along with a CFL football game and a Toronto Raptors pre-season game. SmackDown ranked fourth among sports programs with 295,400 viewers but ranked first in the 25-54 demographic with 128,500 viewers on Sportsnet 360.
SmackDown included the debut of the Motor City Machine Guns and a main event segment featuring Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.
AEW Rampage registered its lowest 18-49 audience in history this past Friday.
The show averaged 234,000 viewers and 84,000 (0.06) in the 18-49 demographic on TNT. (Wrestlenomics)
The overall audience decline was 8% with its lowest viewership since October 4 and the seventh lowest in the show’s history. The 18-49 audience fell by 27% to its lowest figure since the show launched in August 2021.
Rampage was headlined by Private Party defeating MxM Collection and opened with Mark Briscoe over The Butcher.
