WWE SmackDown Sees Ratings Boost on Friday Night 1/24

Friday night's WWE SmackDown episode on USA Network drew an average of 1.455 million viewers, marking a 3.7 percent increase from the previous week. This ranks as the second-highest viewership total for the show since December 13. SmackDown also broke into the top 10 overall on television for the night in terms of total viewers, a feat it had not achieved since moving to the USA Network.

In the key 18-49 demographic, SmackDown secured the top spot across all television with a 0.44 rating, reflecting a 4.8 percent rise from last week. This ties the second-best rating the show has achieved since November 22.

The show outperformed its major sports competition for the night. A college basketball game on Fox drew 1.069 million viewers with a 0.23 rating in the 18-49 demo, while an NBA game on ESPN managed just 424,000 viewers with a 0.13 rating in the same demo.

When compared to the same week in 2024, when SmackDown aired on Fox, the overall viewership was down by 41.2 percent, and the 18-49 demographic rating dropped by 38 percent. It is worth noting that this time last year coincided with the weekend of the Royal Rumble, an event that traditionally generates viewership numbers well above average.

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