WWE SmackDown Draws Second Lowest Viewership Of 2016
Tuesday night switch can't come quick enough for the B show.
After a week in which WWE RAW saw its viewership rise, the same could not be said for WWE's Thursday night broadcast.
This week's edition of WWE SmackDown finished with 2.112 million viewers, down from 2.295 million viewers for last week's show. The number was the second worst viewership figure drawn by WWE on Thursday night all year long, with the April 28 broadcast being the only edition with less watchers.
Overall, this week's show had pretty favorable reviews, especially for the main event featuring The Miz and Cesaro which was an outstanding bout. However, WWE continues to struggle to get viewers to tune into SmackDown on a weekly basis. The show has had a stigma now for several years as a "B" broadcast, and this will be something that the company tries to erase with this Summer's brand extension.
There was certainly some steep competition for viewers on Thursday, as the NBA Playoff game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors drew 9.998 million viewers to finish in first place for the night. All in all, SmackDown was the sixth most viewed show on cable television Thursday.
SmackDown finished fifth in the 18-49 age group demographic with a 0.59 rating. The final cable broadcast rating for the show was a 1.57, down from 1.62 last week.