11/26 Smackdown Ratings – T-Giving ties for lowest in five-year Syfy run

For the first time in 10 years, Smackdown aired on Thanksgiving as part of Smackdown returning to Thursday nights in 2015. The result was not good in terms of TV rating and viewership.

WWE Smackdown TV Ratings 2015

— November 26: Thursday’s show scored a 1.15 rating, down 30 percent from a 1.64 rating the previous week.

It was a holiday episode, but it was essentially tied for the lowest-rated Smackdown in the show’s five-year history on Syfy, counting replays of live USA Network specials. The previous low was a 1.14 rating for a replay in December 2010.

– Smackdown drew 1.652 million viewers, down 26 percent from last week’s audience of 2.229 million viewers.

– Opposed by strong football competition, Smackdown took a big hit in the key demographic of males 18-34. Smackdown was down 33 percent from last week and 42 percent from two weeks ago in the demo.

Smackdown also dipped 25 percent in the general adults 18-49 demographic.

Caldwell’s Analysis: It was a holiday episode, so you can’t read too much into the performance, but it points to Smackdown (and WWE programming in general) not being a show that you’re going to watch with family and friends in the room. There is too much history of embarrassing programming, especially with holiday themes, to be comfortable asking for the remote to flip over to wrestling while relatives are around.