
Friday Night SmackDown was the top prime-time program this past week on the night before the Royal Rumble.
The January 31 episode from Indianapolis averaged 1,578,000 viewers and 684,000 (0.51) in the 18-49 demographic.
The show experienced a 9% increase in viewership to its highest mark since November 22.
The show ranked first in the core demographic among all broadcast and cable programs in prime time. The 18-—to 49-year-old audience increased by 16% over last week and was the largest audience in this demo since the premiere on the USA Network on September 13, 2024.
In the 18-49 demo, male viewership increased by 18% to 485,000 viewers and females saw an 8% growth and averaged 194,000 viewers.
SmackDown outperformed Happy’s Place on NBC (0.31), Indiana vs. Purdue on Fox (0.31), Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News (0.31), and Fire Country on CBS (0.30) for the top spot in the 18-49 demographic on Friday.
The go-home episode before the Royal Rumble featured Damian Priest and LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga in the main event and CM Punk in the opening segment of the three-hour program.
Data: Programming Insider and Wrestlenomics