WWE Smackdown Rating & Viewership Down Against College Football Playoffs

WWE Smackdown’s rating and audience took a hit on Friday night against the college football playoffs. Friday’s episode brought in a 0.40 rating in the 18 – 49 demographic and 1.436 million viewers per Wrestlenomics. Those numbers were down 11.1% and 6.0% respectively from the previous week’s 0.45 demo rating and audience of 1.528 million.

The show’s demo rating was the lowest since the December 20th episode had a 0.37, while the audience was the lowest since the same episode’s 1.326 million viewers. The show was up against the Ohio State vs. Texas game, which did a combined 5.21 demo rating and 20.417 million viewers.

Smackdown is averaging a 0.425 demo rating and 1.482 million viewers in 2024 to date, compared to a .655 and 2.425 million for the first two episodes of 2025 (which, of course, were on FOX and not USA Network).