Friday’s WWE SmackDown drew an average of 2.256 million viewers on FOX, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.
This is up from 2.077 million viewers a week ago.
The show received a 0.62 rating in the key 18-49 age demographic, an increase over the 0.47 rating a week before. This had the highest key demo since January 21 and the largest overall viewing since June 24. 2.13 million viewers and a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demo were recorded during the same week last year.
Stephanie McMahon’s appearance on the show added anticipation after Vince McMahon announced his retirement a few hours before the start of SmackDown and Brock Lesnar’s exit. Lesnar did appear in the final segment.
The comparison between this week’s show and last week’s is seen below:
Viewers 18-34 – 0.39 – a week ago: 0.31
Viewers 18-49 – 0.62 – a week ago: 0.47
Viewers 25-54 – 0.76 – a week ago: 0.62
Female viewers 18-49 – 6.2 – a week ago: 4.9
Male viewers 18-49 – 8.6 – a week ago: 6.5
Viewers 50+ – 3.3 – a week ago: 3.2