Slight Decrease In Latest WWE Smackdown Overnight Ratings
Some fans clearly weren't excited about RAW's WWE SmackDown invasion.
According to Showbuzz daily, this week's edition of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX drew an average of 2.228 million viewers overnight.
The first hour of the blue show brought in 2.294 million fans, whilst the second hour of the episode saw a drop down to 2.161 million viewers. This week's SmackDown also scored a 0.6 in the vital 18-49 demographic, a score which landed the show #1 spot on the night in the category.
If, when the official ratings drop early next week, this number holds up, it will mean that the latest edition of SmackDown is down 6.5% in viewership from the previous week's show. The prior episode of SmackDown drew 2.383 million viewers on average and scored a 0.63 in the 18-49 demo.
Those who stuck around for the full SmackDown experience this week witnessed Bayley fall to Royal Rumble favourite Bianca Belair, Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens take part in a compelling sit-down interview, and one of the most chaotic main events in recent blue show history as a one-on-one match between AJ Styles (of RAW) and Daniel Bryan eventually ended with Sheamus picking up the victory in a 10-man tag match...because Royal Rumble?
Will SmackDown be able to improve upon these go-home Rumble ratings next week as we officially kick-off the Road to WrestleMania?