SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The March 5 episode of WWE Smackdown drew a 1.60 rating, up from the 1.57 the week before and down from the 1.63 two weeks ago. The average for 2019 so far is 1.53, below the year-ago average at this point of 1.75.
Total viewership this week was 2.155 million. That was well below “Curse of Oak Island” on History Channel, which drew 3.511 million viewers. It was also below “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News and “The Rachel Maddow” show on MSNBC in total viewers.
It finished no. 3 in the key 18-49 demo, below the NBA’s game on TNT, which along with “Curse of Oak Island,” drew a 0.8 rating in that demo. Smackdown dropped to a 0.7. Smackdown had been the top show in recent weeks in the key demo, but an especially strong NBA match-up between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics knocked it from its perch.
There is always an excuse for the low ratings. The product is not very good right now. Has it improved some in the last few weeks? Sure. Is it good? Not really. In fact, the effect of the basketball game probably wasn’t that great. The score was not even close. It was a blow out. I believe the Celtics had 25 point lead at halftime and won by 30 or more. Had it been a close game, I buy that it effected Smackdown greatly, but it was not a close game.
These are usual examples they give as”excuses” as to why the ratings are low. Heck, they were so desperate to blame the low ratings on something else back in late 2012 (early 2013!?) that they blamed Hurricane Sandy. It was Sandy’s fault that so many TV’s could not work because power lines had been knocked over in the Northeast part of the United States. The product itself is why ratings are low.