Friday Night SmackDown experienced its lowest 18-49 audience of the year airing against the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The March 21 episode – airing on tape delay from Italy – averaged 1,459,000 viewers and 523,000 viewers (0.39) in the 18-49 demographic.
The key demographic audience saw a big drop of 25 percent from the previous week, largely due to its female viewership falling from 334,000 viewers to 194,000 or 42%. Male viewership in the core demo only suffered a nine percent decline by averaging 330,000 viewers.
It was SmackDown’s lowest 18-49 audience since December 20 and the lowest since expanding to its three-hour format.
Its overall viewership fell by seven percent this week and was the lowest mark since February 14.
The competition was significant as SmackDown dropped to fifth among cable programs in prime time behind TNT and TBS’s coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. SmackDown ranked eighth among all prime-time programming in the 18-49 demographic with the NCAA occupying the other top ten spots.
The show from Bologna, Italy, featured a show-closing segment involving Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk to set up their WrestleMania 41 match.
Data: Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider
