WWE Smackdown, Friday on Fox, was watched by 2,097,000 viewers on average, including about 720,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.55 P18-49 rating.
Preempted in many markets for NFL preseason games, this was Smackdown’s lowest total viewership since May 5.
AEW Rampage on TNT at 10 pm, was watched by 398,000 viewers on average, including about 199,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.15 P18-49 rating.
This was Rampage’s highest P18-49 viewership since April 7.
Smackdown was preempted in some markets for NFL preseason games, including in Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; St. Louis, MO; El Paso, TX; Duluth, MN; Honolulu, HI; Louisville, KY; Richmond, VA; Toledo, OH; Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA; Binghamton, NY; Peoria, IL; Gainesville, FL; Ft. Wayne, IN; Erie, PA; Lansing, MI; Johnstown, PA; Wheeling, WV.
In all preempted markets, Smackdown aired either on a delay or on an affiliated broadcast network. All preempted airings are counted by Nielsen in the number reported above.
Smackdown suffered a similar decline last year for the first preemption due to NFL preseason, when it declined 10% total and 12% in P18-49 versus the trailing four weeks.
Heels on Starz Primary at 10:07 pm, was watched by 32,000 viewers on average, including about 21,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.02 P18-49 rating. That’s up from last week’s 29,000, but below the season premiere viewership of 46,000. As always, this is first-run viewership only and doesn’t include any DVR or streaming viewership of the episodes.
This week’s Smackdown was down 7% compared to last week’s total viewership of 2,248,000. Among viewers 18 to 49, viewership was down 11% from last week’s 0.62 rating.
This week’s Rampage was down 8% compared to last week’s total viewership of 434,000. Among viewers 18-49, viewership was up 10% from last week’s 0.14 rating.
This week’s Heels was up 10% compared to last week’s total viewership of 29,000. Among viewers 18-49, viewership was up 31% from last week’s 0.01 rating.
Viewer counts in thousands for this week’s episode with the difference versus the median of the last 28 days in parentheses:
Smackdown:
P2+: 2097 (-8%)
P18-49: 720 (-11%)
M18-49: 454 (-15%)
F18-49: 267 (+1%)
P18-34: 242 (-12%)
M18-34: 143 (-21%)
F18-34: 99 (+7%)
P35-49: 478 (-6%)
M35-49: 311 (-11%)
F35-49: 167 (+5%)
Non-P18-49: 1377 (-6%)
Rampage:
P2+: 398 (+8%)
P18-49: 199 (+47%)
M18-49: 143 (+51%)
F18-49: 56 (+20%)
P18-34: 56 (+38%)
M18-34: 32 (+23%)
F18-34: 24 (+37%)
P35-49: 143 (+44%)
M35-49: 111 (+61%)
F35-49: 32 (+5%)
Non-P18-49: 199 (-11%)
Most-viewed YouTube videos from Smackdown, as of 3pm today:
1. Jey Uso quits WWE!: 1,540,257
2. Rey Mysterio wins the United States Championship: 1,099,935
3. Jimmy Uso explains his actions to his brother Jey: 773,588
4. SmackDown’s most stunning moments: 756,060
5. LA Knight drops Top Dolla, then drops bars on The Miz: 287,280
6. Edge challenges Sheamus to a match for his 25th Anniversary: 277,737
7. AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross: 239,678
8. Rey Mysterio won the US Title for the entire LWO: 217,512
9. IYO SKY interrupts match between Charlotte Flair and Asuka: 216,572
10. Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits vow to take over SmackDown: 196,990
Most-viewed YouTube videos from Rampage, as of 4pm today:
1. Who punched her ticket to AEW All In at Wembley? Saraya or Skye Blue?: 152,375
2. Orange Cassidy puts his AEW International title on the line against Johnny TV: 151,592
3. Darby wants revenge, but first he has to make it past Brian Cage!: 148,977
4. ROH World Tag Champions, Aussie Open, in action!: 65,844
5. EXCLUSIVE! AEW Rampage entrances for Brian Cage and Darby Allin!: 24,896
This ratings report was written with the assistance of automated programs created by me, then manually edited.
Subscribers have exclusive access to the Wrestlenomics Viewership Spreadsheet.
Brandon Thurston
brandon@wrestlenomics.com
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He’s also worked as an independent wrestler and trainer.
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