WWE SmackDown Viewership Sinks For WrestleMania Backlash Go-Home Show
Down heavily from the Throwback broadcast
May 15, 2021
After doing a high overnight number for last week's special "Throwback" broadcast, WWE SmackDown fell well short of two million viewers for the WrestleMania Backlash go-home show.
Per TV Series Finale*, Friday's SmackDown averaged 1,800,000 viewers in the overnights, down 357,000 (17 percent) from the 2,157,000 viewers for the retro broadcast.
SmackDown's 18-49 demo rating fell from a .60 last week to a .40 this week. Generally, the 18-49 rating hovers around the .50 range for a standard episode.
In terms of overnight viewership, this would be the least-watched episode of SmackDown since December 18 (when the show aired on FS1, due to college football on FOX).
Among network programs, SmackDown finished fourth for the night in 18-49, behind ABC's Shark Tank, and the two-part season finale of Blue Bloods on CBS. Blue Bloods generally runs in the hour after SmackDown ends, however part one of the finale went up against SmackDown's second hour.
* The usual source for wrestling TV ratings, Showbuzz Daily, is currently undergoing maintenance. Showbuzz provides a more in depth analysis of demo ratings than what is listed in this report. According to a note from Showbuzz's admin, the site could be back online Monday.
