Friday Night SmackDown ranked first on cable this past Friday, drawing its largest audience since September.
The February 6 episode from Charlotte averaged 1,459,000 viewers and 476,000 viewers (0.35) in the 18-49 demographic on the USA Network.
The show has completely rebounded after the recent introduction of the methodology utilized by Nielsen to incorporate results from the DASH study conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation. The study aims for a better analysis of homes connected with cable. The early results have shown a boost for professional wrestling programming in WWE, AEW & TNA.
SmackDown grew by sixteen percent in its overall viewership to hit its largest audience since September 6. The 18-49 audience experienced a twenty percent increase, marking its highest average since September 26.
Males in the core demo increased from 236,000 to 296,000 viewers, with females growing from 154,000 to 174,000.
Adults 25-54 increased from a 0.42 to a 0.47 rating.
The major programming competition SmackDown aired against was NBC’s opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics, which averaged 13,262,000 viewers and a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The show more than doubled RuPaul’s Drag Race (0.17) in the 18-49 demo on cable, along with Jesse Watters Primetime (0.16) on Fox News, and ESPN’s 30 for 30 ‘The Philly Special’ premiere (0.14).
This past Friday’s show returned to its live format after a taped show on January 30 from Riyadh.
Data: Programming Insider & Wrestlenomics
