8/2 WWE Smackdown TV Ratings – Week 2 down slightly; key demo awakens

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

This week’s WWE Smackdown TV rating and viewership dipped slightly in Week 2 of the “new era” of Raw vs. Smackdown.

WWE Smackdown TV Ratings Tracking

August 2: WWE Smackdown scored a 1.86 rating on Tuesday night, down three percent from a 1.92 rating last week.

Smackdown drew 2.641 million viewers, down four percent from 2.743 million viewers for the official Smackdown Live premiere.

– DEMOGRAPHICS: Smackdown held up well compared to last week.

Males 18-34 scored the same rating as last week, while adults 18-49 and males 18-49 dipped slightly.

The big key for Smackdown is drawing a consistent m18-34 audience. The taped Thursday night shows earlier this year really struggled to attract a younger audience, hitting historical low-points in June.

Recent highlights of the m18-34 demographic include:

• June 2: 0.59 m18-34 rating
• June 9: 0.44 m18-34 rating
• June 16: 0.54 m18-34 rating
• Second Quarter Avg.: 0.58 m18-34 rating
• July 7: 0.62 m18-34 rating
• July 14: 0.50 m18-34 rating (final Thurs.)
• July 26: 1.02 m18-34 rating (first official live Tues.)
• Aug. 2: 1.02 ma18-34 rating