By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown delivered 2.016 million viewers for Fox, according to the overnight numbers listed by Showbuzzdaily.com. The viewership count was up from the 1.984 final number from last week (last week’s overnight number was 1.935 million viewers). Friday’s first hour delivered 2.036 million viewers, while the second hour produced 1.996 million viewers.
Powell’s POV: Smackdown led Fox to a first place finish in the male adults 18-49 demographic and in the men 18-49 demographic, and tied for first in the adults 25-54 demographic. The final numbers will be available on Monday.
Keep in mind that the three oldest broadcast networks use Friday night as old-folks programming. And last night those shows were all reruns except for 20/20 on ABC and Dateline on NBC, and those two shows run later than Smackdown (save for the first hour of 20/20.)
Smackdown’s only non-rerun not-so-old-folk programming was a half hour show on CW, a network that has terrible coverage and terrible viewership.
So yeah, Smackdown does well in ratings, even if total viewership still falls behind reruns on other networks.