By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Last week's WWE Smackdown on Friday, May 31 skewed to an older audience of 51.1 years-old.

Smackdown's median age was actually in the middle of Syfy's range last week - the oldest-skewest show on Syfy was 57.7 years-old and the youngest-skewing show was 38.7 years-old.

Also, Smackdown broke down with 63 percent males and 37 percent females. This was in-line with the Memorial Day Raw episode.

***

PWTorch has received minute-by-minute and quarter-hour TV ratings for last Friday's Smackdown episode. The overall rating was flat compared to the previous week, but the show registered a 20 percent increase in social media activity.

The following ratings are for the key demographic of males 18-49, which captures the widest range of WWE's viewing audience. All ratings & viewership references below are for the m18-49 demographic to avoid redundancy.

- Smackdown grew steadily throughout the show until the seventh quarter-hour. The show increased from a 0.52 rating in Q1 to a 0.62 rating in Q4, peaked in Q6, and declined in Q7 and Q8.

Despite the sluggish conclusion to the show for Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose, nearly every minute during the second-half of the main event increased in viewership. The progressions was 401,000 viewers at 9:53 p.m. to 510,000 viewers at 9:59 when Smackdown concluded with Daniel Bryan's flurry on The Shield.

- Peak viewership of the entire show was for Ryback powerbombing Kofi Kingston multiple times through tables. During the most-watched quarter-hour of the show, Q6, Ryback's post-match attack drew 654,000 viewers at 9:20 p.m. and 657,000 viewers at 9:21 p.m., which was the most-watched minute of the show.

First Hour Break Down

Q1: Smackdown opened with a show-low 0.52 rating as viewers slowly began tuning in on a Friday night. The segment included Kane vs. Seth Rollins and one commercial.

Q2: Smackdown grew to a 0.56 rating for Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns and two commercial breaks.

Q3: Smackdown grew to a 0.59 rating for Damien Sandow's latest mind challenge involving Sheamus, plus one commercial. Included was the most-watched minute of the first hour, which was 442,000 viewers at 8:39 p.m. near the conclusion of the skit.

Q4: Smackdown grew to a 0.62 rating for a Paul Heyman promo, Curtis Axel vs. Sin Cara, and a commercial leading to the top of the hour. The quarter-hour was steady throughout with a significant bump within the 15-minute block.

Second Hour Break Down

Q5: Smackdown got a top-of-the-second-hour bump to a 0.79 rating for Alberto Del Rio vs. Big E. Langston, one commercial, and a video recap of the John Cena vs. Ryback feud.

The video recap actually drew the number in Q5. Del Rio vs. Big E. peaked with 510,000 viewers at 9:03 p.m., but the video package peaked with 543,000 viewers at 9:12 p.m. leading into Ryback arriving on Smackdown to face Kofi Kingston.

Q6: Smackdown grew yet again to a 0.88 rating for Ryback vs. Kingston, Ryback's post-match attack, one commercial, a Chris Jericho promo backstage, and half of a commercial.

The segment started with 534,000 viewers for the start of the Ryback-Kofi match and grew to a peak audience level of 657,000 viewers for the post-match attack. After the commercial, Smackdown returned to a respectable 586,000 viewers for Jericho's promo and ring entrance.

Q7: Smackdown dropped for the first time of the night with a 0.86 rating for Jericho vs. Cody Rhodes, one-and-a-half commercials, and a Wyatt Family vignette.

Within the quarter-hour, Smackdown grew from 557,000 viewers for the start of Jericho vs. Rhodes to 584,000 viewers for the conclussion. The Wyatt vignette that led to commercial averaged 581,000 viewers.

Q8: Smackdown dipped to a 0.74 rating for the Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose main event, one mid-match commercial, and Daniel Bryan's show-closing flurry of offense on The Shield.

After the final commercial break, Smackdown closed with 401,000 viewers at 9:53 p.m., 450,000 viewers at 9:54, 467,000 viewers at 9:55 p.m., 478,000 viewers at 9:56, a slight decline to 466,000 viewers at 9:57, an increase to 495,000 viewers at 9:58, and a strong conclusion of 510,000 viewers at 9:59 for D-Bryan's flurry.

M18-49 Show Summary

Hour 1 - 0.57 rating / 358,000 viewers
Hour 2 - 0.82 rating / 512,750 viewers
OVRL AVG. - 0.70 rating / 435,375 viewers

M18-49 Quarter-Hours

Q1: 0.52 rating
Q2: 0.56 rating
Q3: 0.59 rating
Q4: 0.62 rating
HOUR: 0.57 rating

Q5: 0.79 rating
Q6: 0.88 rating
Q7: 0.86 rating
Q8: 0.74 rating
HOUR: 0.82 rating

OVERALL - 0.70 rating / 435,375 viewers

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