WWE Smackdown Rating Sinks on FOX Sports 1 Against World Series

WWE Smackdown was on FOX Sports 1 on Friday due to the World Series, and it suffered a predictable drop in the ratings as a result. Friday night’s show drew a 0.23 rating in the 18 – 49 demographic and 835,000 viewers, down 55.8% and 62.6% respectively from the previous week’s 0.52 demo rating and 2.231 million viewers.

Obviously, that is a huge drop but it’s by virtue of both the FOX Sports 1 channel switch and the World Series serving as competition. Game one of the series aired on FOX, drawing a 2.85 demo rating and 11.475 million viewers per Showbuzz Daily. It of course won the night on television. Smackdown ranked #5 among cable originals.

Smackdown is averaging a 0.514 demo rating and 2.12 million viewers in 2022 to date, compared with a 0.553 demo rating and 2.08 million viewers for the same time period in 2021.