Originally published at Friday Night SmackDown finishes with second-highest numbers since April
Friday Night SmackDown aired against the Stanley Cup Final, and while down from last week’s strong figures, the show was still among its highest since April.
The June 24th edition of the show from Austin averaged 2,231,000 viewers and approximately 691,000 (0.53) in the 18-49 demographic with data from Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
WWE Smackdown, Friday on Fox 8-10pm:
2,231,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.53AEW Rampage on TNT at 10pm:
422,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.12📊 https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/6yHGGjBvYr
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) June 27, 2022
Last week’s show, which saw its figures increase due to a Nielsen error, finished with 2,389,000 viewers and 804,000 in the demo on the same day it was announced Vince McMahon would “step back” from his role as CEO & Chairman while staying in control of creative and announcing he would appear on the program.
This week the show fell seven percent in overall viewers and down 14 percent in the 18-49 demo. The show beat everything on network television except ABC’s coverage of the Tampa Bay vs. Colorado series, which averaged 5,145,000 and 1.49 in 18-49.
Excluding last week’s numbers, it was SmackDown’s highest viewership and demo audience since April 8th coming out of WrestleMania 38 weekend.
Cable was dominated by news coverage of the Supreme Court reversing its decision on Roe vs. Wade with 18 of the top 20 spots on cable occupied by news programming.
Friday Night SmackDown fell 20 percent among adults 18-34 and was virtually identical in adults 35-49 from the week prior with a drop of 3,000 viewers on its average.
In Canada, SmackDown was outside of the top ten sports programs with approximately 123,000 viewers and 46,000 in the 25-54 demographic. It aired during the Stanley Cup Final, a Toronto Blue Jays game, and CFL football.
SmackDown included an impromptu tag match with Drew McIntyre & Sheamus defeating The Usos to keep their spots in the men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match and a pair of qualifying matches for the men’s and women’s ladder matches.