Last Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 1.308 million viewers on USA Network, marking a 9.1% drop from the previous week and the lowest audience the show has recorded since March 6.

Despite the dip in total viewers, SmackDown saw a positive shift in the key 18-49 demographic, posting a 0.33 rating. That figure represents a 3.1% increase week over week and stands as the show’s strongest performance in that category since late February.

The broadcast faced stiff competition from the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament “Sweet 16” games, which aired across CBS, TBS and TruTV and dominated television ratings for the evening.

Even with that challenge, SmackDown still secured a fourth-place finish on the primetime cable charts, trailing only basketball programming. Outside of the tournament coverage, it ranked as the top-rated show in the 18-49 demographic across both cable and major network television.

Looking at year-over-year comparisons against similar competition, overall viewership declined by 3.1%, while the 18-49 demo rating saw a larger drop of 17.5%.