WWE SmackDown On FOX Viewership Drops 16 Percent For Third Episode
Over 400,000 viewers down...
Oct 19, 2019
For the second straight week, WWE's SmackDown on FOX viewership takes a considerable plunge, although not as bad as the drop between the first two episodes. And without a "premiere" or Draft theme in place, Friday night's episode could provide a glimpse at what a "normal" week looks like.
Per
Showbuzz Daily, the October 18 edition SmackDown averaged 2,442,000 viewers through the night, down 456,000 viewers (close to 16 percent) from the 2,898,000 of a week ago.
The viewership actually increased in the second hour, going from 2,390,000 to 2,493,000 for a main event pitting Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan against Shinsuke Nakamura and King Corbin.
SmackDown was beaten by all of the other shows on the main four American networks. In the first hour's time slot, SmackDown lost to CBS' Hawaii Five-O (6.2 million), NBC's The Black List (3.5 million), and ABC's American Housewife and Fresh Off the Boat (close to 3 million average).
The second hour lost to CBS' Magnum PI (5.7 million), NBC's Dateline (3 million), and ABC's 20/20 (2.6 million).
SmackDown was also up against a potential clinching game in MLB's American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, which aired on FOX's FS1 channel. The viewership for that game won't be in until later Saturday.
