WWE SmackDown Scores Best Audience Of 2020 On Christmas With NFL Lead-In

Friday's taped Christmas Night edition of WWE SmackDown, featuring three big title matches advertised ahead of time with Big E capturing the WWE Intercontinental Title from Sami Zayn in the main event, drew an average of 3.303 million viewers on FOX, according to Showbuzz Daily.

This final number is down from the overnight viewership that was released on Saturday morning, which was an average of 3.336 million viewers. This number is up from last week's final SmackDown viewership of 1.030 million viewers, for an episode that aired on FS1 cable. The last episode to air on FOX network TV drew 2.206 million viewers on December 11.

Friday's SmackDown drew a 0.96 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, a 1.09 rating in the 25-54 demo, and a 0.68 rating in the 18-34 demographic. Last week's FS1 airing on cable drew a 0.30 rating in the key 18-49 demo, but the last network TV episode on FOX drew a 0.6 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, a 0.7 rating in the 25-54 demo, and a 0.3 rating in the 18-34 demographic.

SmackDown on Christmas drew the best numbers for the show since the premiere on FOX in October 2019 with the strong NFL lead in, which scored the best ratings for an NFL game on Christmas since 2016.

SmackDown drew a total of 113.372 million viewers in 2020, averaging 2.180 million viewers per episode, with 2 FS1 cable airings included. This is up from the 112.530 million viewers the show drew in 2019, for an average of 2.164 million per episode. There was just one FS1 episode in 2019.

SmackDown ranked #3 in ratings for the key 18-49 demographic on network TV, behind the NBA's 1.82 rating on ABC and the NFL's 3.15 on FOX. SmackDown ranked #3 in the 18-34 demo this week, behind the NBA's 1.57 on ABC and the NFL's 2.34 on FOX. SmackDown also ranked #3 in the 25-54 demo, behind the NBA's 1.98 on ABC and the NFL's 3.66 on FOX. SmackDown came in at #5 for the night in viewership on network TV. The NFL on FOX topped the night on network TV in viewership this week with 11.501 million viewers.

The NBA game on ESPN at noon topped the day on the Cable Top 150 with a 1.26 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The NBA game also topped the night in cable viewership with 3.495 million viewers.

Below is our 2020 SmackDown Viewership Tracker with Totals:

January 3 Episode: 2.413 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 10 Episode: 2.497 million viewers with a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 17 Episode: 2.562 million viewers with a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 24 Episode: 2.448 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 31 Episode: 2.422 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Royal Rumble episode)
February 7 Episode: 2.538 million viewers with a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 14 Episode: 2.464 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 21 Episode: 2.484 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 28 Episode: 2.687 million viewers with a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Super ShowDown episode)
March 6 Episode: 2.456 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 13 Episode: 2.470 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Elimination Chamber WWE Performance Center episode)
March 20 Episode: 2.569 million viewers with a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 27 Episode: 2.367 million viewers with a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 3 Episode: 2.398 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 10 Episode: 2.317 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-WrestleMania 36 episode)
April 17 Episode: 2.187 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 24 Episode: 2.005 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Triple H 25th Anniversary Celebration)
May 1 Episode: 1.885 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 8 Episode: 2.025 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 15 Episode: 2.042 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Money In the Bank episode)
May 22 Episode: 2.044 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 29 Episode: 2.170 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 5 Episode: 1.984 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 12 Episode: 2.065 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 19 Episode: 2.072 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 26 Episode: 2.174 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
July 3 Episode: 1.777 million viewers with a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic
July 10 Episode: 1.900 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
July 17 Episode: 1.912 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
July 24 Episode: 1.924 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Extreme Rules episode)
July 31 Episode: 1.894 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
August 7 Episode: 1.962 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
August 14 Episode: 2.002 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
August 21 Episode: 2.198 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
August 28 Episode: 2.144 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-SummerSlam episode)
September 4 Episode: 2.129 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Payback episode)
September 11 Episode: 2.329 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
September 18 Episode: 2.037 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic
September 25 Episode: 2.110 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
October 2 Episode: 2.155 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Clash of Champions episode)
October 9 Episode: 2.178 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Draft Night 1 episode)
October 16 Episode: 2.124 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Season two premiere episode)
October 23 Episode: 881,000 viewers with a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Aired on cable, FS1)
October 30 Episode: 2.286 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Hell In a Cell episode)
November 6 Episode: 2.315 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
November 13 Episode: 2.234 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
November 20 Episode: 2.326 million viewers with a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic
November 27 Episode: 2.141 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Survivor Series episode)
December 4 Episode: 2.130 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
December 11 Episode: 2.206 million viewers with a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
December 18 Episode: 1.030 million viewers with a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Aired on cable, FS1)
December 25 Episode: 3.303 million viewers with a 0.96 rating in the 18-49 demographic (taped episode)

2020 Total: 113.372 million viewers
2020 Average: 2.180 million viewers per episode (2 FS1 airings)

2019 Total: 112.530 million viewers
2019 Average: 2.164 million viewers per episode

2018 Total: 122.304 million viewers
2018 Average: 2.352 million viewers per episode

2017 Total: 132.401 million viewers
2017 Average: 2.546 million viewers per episode