Friday Night SmackDown does second-highest number of 2020

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Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/14/friday-night-smackdown-does-second-highest-number-of-2020/

Friday Night SmackDown from the empty WWE Performance Center led to the program’s second-highest viewership of the year, based on the overnight figures.

The two-hour broadcast on Fox averaged 2,588,000 viewers on Fox, their second-highest of the year behind the February 28th edition that also featured John Cena appearing. The final number reflecting the entire country will be out in a few days.

This week’s episode had the curiosity of what the show would look like without fans in attendance coupled with an appearance by John Cena and Jeff Hardy’s first match since last April.

The show did a 0.7 in the 18-49 demographic equaling the viewership of 20/20 on ABC, and CBS’s airings of Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods. They were tied for second on the night in that demo behind Shark Tank on ABC.

Given the state of the country, it’s uncharted water in terms of what this will mean for WWE programming if they continue running new episodes while other sports leagues have suspended or cancelled their seasons.

In need of content, ESPN is airing a replay today of UFC 246 from January featuring Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone ahead of today’s live card from Brasilia.

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!@!??

That was my first response. But it was the curiosity factor for sure. That’s why I tuned in live when I never do on Friday’s.

That being said I cant believe they produced the episode as if it were any other sd. They played to phantom crowds. Had interviewers in the ring for no reason and hit there beats like normal. This should be an opportunity not a curse. You could produce segments in unique and interesting ways.

When they cancelled raw that one year for the snow storm and had to improvise they thought outside the box. Last night was lazy, predictable, boring, and ultimately, bad.

I see a huge plunge next week if wwe doesn’t freshen things up as opposed to the garbage they aired last night.

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