The Nielsen ratings for “WWE SmackDown” have recently unveiled a compelling pattern: episodes featuring pivotal angles in The Bloodline storyline, particularly those heavily promoted in advance, elicit significant spikes in viewership. The June 2 episode, celebrating Roman Reigns’ 1,000 days as champion, reached a recent zenith with an average of 2,563,000 viewers overall. Notably, approximately 955,000 of these viewers belonged to the coveted 18 to 49 age group, highly valued by advertisers. This resulted in an exceptional 0.73 rating in the P18-49 demo, surpassing recent “normal” levels by a significant margin.
Against this backdrop, the burning question arises: How did the July 7 episode, which commenced with an extensive “Tribal Court” segment, fare in the ratings?
Reports from SpoilerTV.com, as well as insights shared by Wrestlenomics on their Twitter and Patreon platforms, indicate that “SmackDown” maintained its strong performance. The episode garnered an average of 2,561,000 viewers overall across its two-hour duration, reflecting a two percent increase from the previous week. Impressively, approximately 986,000 viewers fell within the highly coveted 18 to 49 age group, marking a ten percent surge compared to the prior week. This translated into a notable 0.76 rating in the P18-49 demo, surpassing the performance of the June 2 episode. However, it is worth noting that the total viewership for both episodes effectively remained the same.
Friday night’s “SmackDown” dominated the prime-time landscape, emerging as the unrivaled top show of the night. It surpassed its competitors by a considerable margin, more than tripling the key demo audience of CBS’s “Tough As Nails,” which secured a modest 0.23 rating in the P18-49 demo and stood as the sole non-rerun program in its category.
For a more comprehensive analysis, the Wrestlenomics Patreon page offers valuable insights into “SmackDown’s” performance across various demographics in relation to the median of the previous four weeks’ numbers. By this measure, all indicators point towards positive growth, with the most substantial percentage increases observed in the 18 to 34 age group. Women aged 18 to 34 experienced a remarkable surge of 56 percent above the median, while men in the same age group witnessed a 33 percent increase, resulting in an overall 41 percent boost for that demographic compared to the median. Within the 18 to 49 age group, women saw a 27 percent rise, and men enjoyed a nine percent increase, culminating in an overall 18 percent surge for that demographic compared to the median.