By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown delivered 2.157 million viewers for Fox, according to the overnight numbers listed by Showbuzzdaily.com. The viewership count was up from the 2.018 million viewers drawn by last week’s show (the overnight number last week was 1.923 million viewers). Friday’s first hour delivered 2.147 million viewers, and the second hour produced 2.166 million viewers.
Powell’s POV: Smackdown drew a .6 in the adults for a first place finish in the 18-49 demographic, and finished first in the men 18-49 demographic in Friday’s broadcast television ratings. Last week’s show delivered a .5 in the adults 18-49 demographic in the overnights. The final numbers will be released on Monday.
I hope dave meltzer and his lap dog bryn alvarez show the same level of “ectasy” for smackdown being number 1 in the beloved demo as they did for aew’s fluke win last wednesday. There was no nba on espn last wednesday, but that will cahnge with this coming wednesday. RAW was number 1 on cable last monday as it has been for every monday since football season ended in january. It is funny how tony con man’s “best friends ignore this fact and just lament how raw in 2021 does not draw the same numbers as raw in 1998.
“I hope dave meltzer and his lap dog bryn alvarez show the same level of “ectasy” …” – dude, you have serious issues.
And FWIW, Alvarez often praises Smackdown.
What you avoid is a reality check, specifically the long term tracking of viewership figures for TV. The reason WWE declines get a lot of publicity is because of the sharp drop off, faster than general TV viewing, over the past several years. Since WWE succeeded in becoming a near monopoly, the decline of WWE viewership also means the waning of wrestling as a TV product.
So when a new company comes alone, AEW, and gets attention from a major TV company (Turner), and subsequently does good (relative) ratings, the wrestling industry is of course positive, as that means wrestling is still viable as a TV product.
This on top of the fact that Vince McMahon (and his wife) are culpable for many bad things, that have driven many to sour on their company.
So if you (Chris) want to haunt Jason’s board’s comment section you are way off base and just using it a platform for your antiAEW obsession.
Kepe your “opinions” to yourself. VINCE AND LINDA ARE NOT CULPABLE FOR ANY BAD THINGS. The only wrestling death that wwe was EVER responsible for from a LEGAL standpoint was OWEN HART.
WWE was negligent in putting owen in the position in which he could fall to his death if he accidentally triggered the quick release lever on the rigging system.
WWE settled the wrongful death suit filed by Martha Hart IN 2000 for the sum of 18 million dollars. The case is closed but wrestling fans refuse to move on with their lives.
WWE is bullet proof from the whims of sensitve fans because wwe has multiple billion dollar deals which means that wwe is not affected by”fans” souring on the product or cancelling their stupid 10 dollar subscriptions to wwe network every time wwe does something to “offend” their moral sensibilities. It is amazing that low brow wrestling fans who want blood, violence and chair shots to the head have the audacity to think that they have “morals’ in the first place.
MELTZER AND ALVAREZ are in BED with tony con man because they are on aew’s payroll hence the wrestling observer awards going to aew and all the interviews tony does on wrestling observer radio.
Dave will probably just skip over it and pretend it didn’t happen. I will say though that the nba ratings doesn’t really strike fear in no one anymore since they jumped on the social justice bandwagon. Last year’s nba finals, for example, was the lowest in its sports history.
I think the nba ratings for the playoffs will be higher this season because the nba cut down on some of the BLM stuff from last season.
An important factor is that lebron james and the lakers are in a bad position going into the post season , so many fans who hate or love lebron will want to see how the lakers do in the playoffs.
This year’s playoffs will have fans and will take place in actual team arenas, so I think the ratings will be decent and have an impact on wwe ratings and aew ratings to some degree.
You’re definitely right in that the nba playoffs ratings will be higher than last years. The play in tournament will also add some intrigue. However, I think that the league went too far in their social commentary. They’re going to have a hard time reaching the heights ratings wise when the Golden State Warriors were running the league. You are right that the nba will put a dent into both aew and wwe
The NBAs Christmas Day ratings for this season were the highest they had seen in a decade.
Their overall ratings are actually up this season, despite the massive amount of cord cutting that has happened due to Covid.
I know there are some “news” sites that like to pretend the league is in trouble, but the reality is they’re looking at something along the lines of a $70 billion rights deal this next time up.
EXACTLY. MELTZER and ALVAREZ ignore the reality that millions of americans lost their jobs due to the pandemic. For many americans, cable tv is a luxury and you have to cut that luxury in order to have money for necessities.
raw’s ratings are higher than many nba regular season games, but meltzer will never give wwe credit for steadying viewership during a global pandemic that destroyed the lives of millions of people from an economic standpoint.