WWE SmackDown Garners Lowest Audience Since Last July

WWE SmackDown ratings this past Friday night saw a drop from the previous week.

SmackDown averaged 1.893 million viewers and a 0.40 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen data via Showbuzz Daily. The audience was down 5.3% from the prior week, while the 18-49 rating was down 13%. The show faced strong competition from the NBA playoffs, as well as the NHL playoffs.

On network television, SmackDown was #2 for the night in the 18-49 demographic behind Shark Tank, which averaged 3.34 million viewers and a 0.45 18-49 rating. However, the two NBA playoff games on ESPN, SportsCenter on ESPN and NBA Courtside on ESPN beat everything on both cable and network television. In terms of total viewers, SmackDown was #8 for the night on network television, beating Charmed and Dynasty on CW.

The SmackDown audience was the lowest for FOX since the July 2, 2021 episode, which was the start of the 4th of July holiday weekend. The 18-49 rating was the second-lowest for a show on FOX, with the April 29th episode two weeks ago being the only one that was lower with a 0.38 18-49 rating.

Year over year, SmackDown was down only 1% in total viewers, while the 18-49 rating was down 9% from the same week last year. Last year's episode had competition from a regular-season NBA game, while this year's show opposed both the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs.

SmackDown featured SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey defending against Raquel Rodriguez. Full WWE SmackDown results are here.