WWE produced its best numbers on NBC since resurrecting Saturday Night’s Main Event in December.
This past weekend’s two-hour special from Tampa featured matches involving top stars John Cena, CM Punk, and the return of Cody Rhodes. The result saw a major upswing with 1,969,000 viewers and 724,000 viewers (0.54) in the 18-49 demographic on NBC. This doesn’t include additional viewership on the Peacock streaming service, which carried the program live.
The viewership figure increased by 32%, and the 18-49 demo rose by 61% from the January special, which averaged 1,494,000 viewers and 0.33 in the demo.
SNME ranked second among all programming on Saturday in the 18-49 demographic, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves playoff game, which averaged 5,262,000 viewers and a 1.46 in the demo on ABC.
Network competition included Fox’s coverage of Baseball Night in America, which had a larger overall viewership of 2,305,000 viewers but a smaller demo audience of 0.48.
Saturday Night’s Main Event included John Cena’s first match on free television in over a year, as he faced R-Truth. CM Punk teamed with Sami Zayn against Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker, and the show ended with Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul, with Cena confronted by the returning Cody Rhodes, who had been absent since WrestleMania 41 last month.
WWE returns to NBC on Saturday, July 12, for the Saturday Night’s Main Event special in Atlanta.
Data: Programming Insider & Wrestlenomics
