WWE SmackDown's Rating Success Continues Despite Slight Dip
SmackDown's total audience remains above 2.2 million for the fourth consecutive week.
WWE SmackDown's television ratings continue to look healthy following 21 August's SummerSlam 2021 pay-per-view, with the FOX show posting healthy numbers for its 17 September episode.
The show's 756,000 viewers in the key 18-49 demographic made for a rating of 0.58. This meant SmackDown finished second on the night amongst all television shows, outdone only by Big Brother's 0.63 rating on CBS.
SmackDown's overall viewership finished at 2.243 million. Both this and the P18-49 number are down on the previous week (2.383 million and 852,000 respectively), though this was to be expected given the hype of WWE's return to Madison Square Garden on 10 September, which ended up yielding one of WWE's most critically acclaimed shows of 2021.
The 17 September numbers mean SmackDown's four-week post-SummerSlam averages now sits at 2.274 million P2+ viewers and 794,000 P18-49. These are an improvement on the pre-SummerSlam averages of 2.123 million and 755,000.
Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar's comebacks at the 21 August pay-per-view, plus Roman Reigns' form as Universal Champion, would be the most obvious things to point towards when looking for a reason for the upturn.
Data: Showbuzz Daily, Wrestlenomics.