Despite a low audience, Friday Night SmackDown ranked first on cable this past Friday, featuring John Cena.
The August 22 taped edition of the show from Dublin, Ireland, averaged 1,235,000 viewers. It’s a twelve percent decrease from last week’s show and among the lowest averages in the show’s history.
The only SmackDown episodes to register a lower audience were from this past 4th of July, last November airing against the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, and pre-empted episodes during the Fox era that ran on FS1.
However, the 18-49 audience was identical to last week’s and led to SmackDown beating all cable programming in the demo on Friday, including the NFL Network’s preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons.
SmackDown ranked second among all television programs in the demo on Friday, with CBS’s coverage of the Minnesota Vikings vs. Tennessee Titans ranking first.
In the 18-49 demo, SmackDown saw a two percent increase among men and a seven percent decline among women from last week.
It was a taped show but also included an appearance by John Cena for a segment with Logan Paul, as well as Becky Lynch teaming with Nia Jax against Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill in the main event.
SmackDown will be taped in Paris, France, this Friday and air live on Netflix for international viewers and on a delay for the U.S. audience.
Data: Wrestlenomics & Programming Insider
