SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The Christmas night edition of WWE Smackdown (Not) Live drew a 1.24 rating, beating Raw’s 1.22 Christmas Eve edition. Viewership dipped below 2 million, 1.904 to be exact. It’s the third week out of the last four that dipped below two million, something that hadn’t happened with Smackdown viewership prior.
Although not a fair comparison since it aired the day after Christmas last year, Smackdown one year ago drew a 1.76 rating. Two years ago it drew a 2.02 rating.
The final 2018 average rating for Smackdown is 1.65, down from the 1.76 average of 2017. The December 2018 average closes out at 1.41, the lowest Smackdown average for a month ever, down from the 1.56 in November and October and 1.62 in September. If WWE is expecting a surge in January, last year that didn’t happen, as Smackdown averaged a 1.75 in December 2017 and a 1.76 in January 2018. This year there should be a bigger jump because the Christmas night edition did drag the December average down a notch.
Ratings continue to plummet.
I don’t see the ratings getting much better in 2019. The WWE has dug itstelf a nice hole. They would have to make major changes at top in order to rebound. Also the change is not Triple H. Although NXT seems to be a success, I view it differently. Success to me is when NXT produces a true Superstar. Not a cool wrestler who gets a decent reaction. They haven’t yet and I still believe they won’t later.