TV ratings: WWE Smackdown and AEW Rampage, August 25

WWE Smackdown, Friday on Fox, featuring a tribute to Bray Wyatt and Terry Funk who both recently passed away, was watched by 2,647,000 viewers on average, including about 1,022,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.78 P18-49 rating.

I confirmed NFL preseason viewership was excluded from the measurement for Smackdown. Only 1% of homes were affected by preemptions for NFL preseason games, as opposed to 6% last week.

This was Smackdown’s highest in both P18-49 and total viewership since December 25, 2020, which was an episode that benefited from an NFL game as its lead-in. Excluding that episode, this is the highest total viewership and P18-49 rating for Smackdown since February 28, 2020, which averaged 2,687,000 viewers and a 0.78 demo rating.

AEW Rampage on TNT at 10 pm, was watched by 348,000 viewers on average, including about 139,000 aged 18 to 49, for a 0.11 P18-49 rating.

This week’s Smackdown was up 26% compared to last week’s total viewership of 2,094,000. Among viewers 18-49, viewership was up 41% from last week’s 0.55 rating.

This week’s Rampage was down 16% compared to last week’s total viewership of 416,000. Among viewers 18 to 49, viewership was down 18% from last week’s 0.13 rating.

Heels on Starz Primary at 10 pm, was watched by 26,000 viewers on average, including about 1,000 aged 18 to 49. As always, this is first-run viewership, only, for this episode and doesn’t include DVR or streaming viewership. First-runs so far this season have averaged 34,000.

This week’s Heels was down 32% compared to last week’s total viewership of 38,000. Among viewers 18 to 49, viewership was down 95% 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+: 2647 (+22%)

P18-49: 1022 (+34%)

M18-49: 675 (+36%)

F18-49: 346 (+29%)

P18-34: 408 (+54%)

M18-34: 275 (+65%)

F18-34: 133 (+31%)

P35-49: 614 (+23%)

M35-49: 401 (+22%)

F35-49: 213 (+26%)