WWE SmackDown Ratings Reportedly Causing Panic in Both WWE & AEW

As previously reported, last week’s WWE SmackDown ratings hit a four-year low point for the program, drawing a 0.23 rating in the key demo. The audience was also down, drawing 1.030 million viewers, down 16.8% from the previous week’s audience. Last week’s numbers reportedly utilized the highly controversial and debated new Nielsen TV ratings measurement system, the “Big Data + Panel” method. Dave Meltzer provided more insight on the WWE SmackDown numbers on yesterday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, stating that the lower viewership and ratings numbers for Friday Night SmackDown under the new Nielsen measurement system are causing panic in both WWE and AEW.

According to Meltzer, the numbers for last week’s SmackDown show were the numbers “that everyone panicked on.” Meltzer also commented that officials at AEW and WWE broadcast partners can’t be happy. He stated, “With these numbers USA can’t be happy whatsoever. Obviously, TBS and TNT can’t be happy whatsoever so far, and you know, what it matters.” As noted, AEW Dynamite and Collision have also seen lower-than-usual numbers under the new Nielsen measurement system.

Meltzer continued on the recently released SmackDown ratings and viewership numbers, “When that number came out last night, I mean, I saw a lot of people on both sides panicking because it’s like — it was just so much lower, and it was lower even than the old system last week. Now, all of a sudden it’s like, it’s one thing when you’re doing a 0.35 and you’re going, ‘Okay, we’re down 20% with this new system, it isn’t good, but when it’s a 0.23, that’s a major difference.” He added, “We’ll see what happens on Thursday because we’ll get last night’s ratings in, but so far, man, it’s really bad.”

Meltzer also noted that this could potentially hurt WWE’s standing with broadcast partner USA Network, which is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, due to the amount of money USA Network is spending on SmackDown. He continued, “It can’t be overstated. Again, when you’re talking about the amount of money that USA is paying, and it’s still — look, it’s still better than anything else that USA’s doing, it’s not like they’re going to cancel it, but the money being spent for it seems bad.” In September 2023, it was reported that NBC Universal’s broadcast deal to bring WWE SmackDown to the USA Network was valued at $1.4 billion, a 40% increase from WWE’s previous broadcast deal for SmackDown on the FOX Network, which was previously valued at $1 billion over five years.

Meltzer also explained how the lower ratings under the new measurement system can also reflect poorly on AEW with its broadcast partner, Warner Bros. Discovery, based on the amount of money WBD is paying AEW to air Dynamite on TBS and Collision on TNT. He went on, “The same thing for TBS/TNT. I mean, they paid a lot of money for this programming over three years, and between that and Max, they were looking pretty good up until a week ago. Now, all of the sudden, it’s whatever. It’s not looking good.”

During his podcast, Meltzer noted that the updated numbers under the new Nielsen TV ratings measurement will be “what everything’s going to be judged by” in terms of ad rates and ad revenue, which might explain why people on “both sides” in WWE and AEW are panicking over the latest SmackDown ratings numbers. Additionally, Meltzer stated how this view is bad for the wrestling industry, stating, “These new numbers are the ones that are going to count. These are what the ad rates are going to be based on, and this is what decisions are going to be based on, and it’s real bad for wrestling.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.