Friday Night SmackDown ranked first on cable while airing against ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals.
The June 13 episode of SmackDown from Lexington, Kentucky, averaged 1,401,000 viewers and 510,000 viewers (0.38) in the 18-49 demographic on the USA Network.
The audience dropped by two percent this week while the core demographic saw a nine percent decrease.
In the 18-49 demo, WWE retained its female audience from the week prior while males dropped by thirteen percent.
Last week’s show aired against the Stanley Cup playoffs, but this week, they were up against Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder. The game drew 9,405,000 viewers, a 2.66 rating in the 18-49 demographic on ABC.
SmackDown ranked first among all prime-time cable programming and was third in the demo for all programming behind the NBA coverage.
The show included advertised appearances by John Cena and Cody Rhodes and a surprise appearance by CM Punk to start the third hour of the show.
Data: Programming Insider & Wrestlenomics
