WWE Smackdown on Fox at 8 pm, was watched by 2,629,000 viewers on average, including about 835,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.64 P18-49 rating.
AEW Rampage, Friday on TNT, was watched by 470,000 viewers on average, including about 157,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.12 P18-49 rating.
As expected based on fast affiliate preliminary data, this was Smackdown’s highest viewership in two years. It was the highest in total viewership December 25, 2020 and highest P18-49 viewership since January 21, 2022. The Christmas 2020 episode had an NFL game as a lead-in which boosted viewership in that case. Excepting that case, this is the highest total viewership for Smackdown since February 28, 2020, just before touring was canceled because of the pandemic.
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Smackdown featured John Cena returning to WWE for a rare match. The YouTube clip of his match teaming with Kevin Owens against Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn has more than 5 million views as of this afternoon, multiple times more than any other clip from the show, despite two others already having more than 1 million views.
According to Showbuzz Daily, Smackdown was #7 for the day in P18-49. Rampage ranked #28 among cable originals, and #43 including broadcast primetime. Top ranks were crowded by ESPN’s college football programming. The Orange Bowl on ESPN, which opposed both wrestling shows, led for Friday, with 8.6 million viewers and a 2.00 P18-49 rating.
Compared to last week, Rampage was down 17% in total viewership. Among viewers 18 to 49, viewership was down 33% from last week’s 236,000.
Compared to last week, Smackdown was up 11% in total viewership. Among viewers 18-49, viewership was up 16%.
For Rampage, M18-49 was down 19% compared to the prior four weeks. P35-49 was down 12%. P18-49 was down 9%. Non-P18-49 was up 9%.
For Smackdown, P18-34 was up 39% compared to the prior four weeks. P18-49 was up 16%. P2+ was up 14%. Non-P18-49 was up 14%.
Viewer counts in thousands, calculated from national ratings, for this week’s episode with difference versus the median of the last 28 days in parentheses:
Smackdown:
P2+: 2629 (+14%)
P18-49: 842 (+17%)
M18-49: 557 (+30%)
F18-49: 285 (+0%)
P18-34: 311 (+39%)
M18-34: 189 (+32%)
F18-34: 122 (+52%)
P35-49: 531 (+12%)
M35-49: 368 (+26%)
F35-49: 163 (-12%)
Non-P18-49: 1787 (+14%)
P25-54: 1059 (+13%)
Median age: 54.2 (-2%)
Rampage:
P2+: 470 (+2%)
P18-49: 154 (-11%)
M18-49: 85 (-18%)
F18-49: 69 (-1%)
P18-34: 52 (+14%)
M18-34: 20 (-30%)
F18-34: 32 (+88%)
P35-49: 102 (-17%)
M35-49: 65 (-13%)
F35-49: 37 (-18%)
Non-P18-49: 316 (+10%)
Median age: 54.1 (+1%)
Most-viewed YouTube videos from Smackdown, as of 4pm today:
5,250,000: John Cena & Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn
1,860,000: Uncle Howdy attacks Bray Wyatt
1,580,000: Charlotte Flair returns to win the title from Ronda Rousey
805,000: Gunther punishes Braun Strowman for making a title challenge
566,000: Drew McIntyre stops The Bloodline’s attack on Sheamus
432,000: Ronda Rousey vs. Raquel Rodriguez — SmackDown Women’s Title Match
354,000: Paul Heyman cautions Sami Zayn not to have the WWE Universe chant his name
333,000: Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa
213,000: Top Dolla shoves Ricochet following some playful mocking
69,000: Drew McIntyre’s New Year’s Resolution is to kick more butt
View counts are rounded to improve readability.
Most-viewed YouTube videos from Rampage, as of 4pm today:
365,000: Did These 2 Best Friends Turn into Bitter Rivals?
224,000: What Are the Mogul Affiliates Willing to do for the “W”?
210,000: Is Darby Ready for the TNT Champion Samoa Joe?
186,000: Is There Trouble Brewing in the Baddies Camp?
161,000: What did Moxley Have to Say When He Called Hangman?
104,000: Kip Sabian Exhibits a New Level of Smugness
36,000: Exclusive Trent Beretta & Orange Cassidy Entrances
View counts are rounded to improve readability.
This report was written with the assistance of automated programs created by me, then manually edited.
Subscribers have exclusive access to the Wrestlenomics Viewership Spreadsheet.View YouTube video trends for the trailing 7 days (BETA).
Brandon Thurston
brandon@wrestlenomics.com
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