Friday Night SmackDown tops one million viewers on FS1

Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/12/21/friday-night-smackdown-tops-one-million-viewers-on-fs1/

Friday Night SmackDown scored its best figure on FS1 after being moved from FOX due to the Pac-12 Championship game this past week.

For SmackDown’s third episode on FS1 since 2019, the show averaged 1,030,000 viewers and scored a 0.30 in the 18-49 demographic.

The previous two episodes of SmackDown to air on FS1 saw the show average 888,000 viewers (0.27 in 18-49) on October 25, 2019, and did 881,000 viewers (0.25) on October 21, 2020.

While airing on a different network, SmackDown was in its usual timeslot and was tied for third among cable programs on Friday night.

While RAW topped SmackDown in all the key demos, AEW was ahead of SmackDown in adults 18-49, 18-34s, women 12-34, and adults 25-54. SmackDown topped AEW in men 12-34, adults 50+, and total viewers.

In Canada, SmackDown averaged 212,000 viewers and 109,900 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360. The episode trailed a pre-season game involving the Toronto Raptors in the two sports programs that evening in Canada. The one-hour edited version of NXT at 7 pm Eastern averaged 61,000 viewers and 25,300 in the 25-54 demo.

Friday Night SmackDown returns to FOX this Friday on Christmas Day following FOX’s NFL coverage of the New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings. WWE is stacking the show with the announcement of a steel cage rematch between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn defending the Intercontinental title against Big E.

Here is a comparison of RAW, AEW Dynamite, and Friday Night SmackDown from last week on their respective cable outlets:

Source: Showbuzz Daily

ADULTS 18-49
WWE RAW: 0.41
AEW: 0.32
SmackDown: 0.30

FEMALES 18-49
WWE RAW: 0.36
AEW: 0.22
SmackDown: 0.20

MALES 18-49
WWE RAW: 0.46
AEW: 0.43
SmackDown: 0.40

ADULTS 18-34
WWE RAW: 0.22
AEW: 0.15
SmackDown: 0.13

FEMALES 12-34
WWE RAW: 0.21
AEW: 0.12
SmackDown: 0.11

MALES 12-34
WWE RAW: 0.27
AEW: 0.11
SmackDown: 0.17

ADULTS 25-54
WWE RAW: 0.48
AEW: 0.38
SmackDown: 0.35

ADULTS 50+

WWE RAW: 0.77
AEW: 0.30
SmackDown: 0.50