WWE Smackdown viewership surges with fans back in attendance, no. 1 on Friday night among all shows in key demo

WWE got the big viewership bump they were surely hoping for when they returned to presenting the show inside an arena packed with fans last Friday night. The July 16 episode on Fox broadcast network drew a live and same-night viewership of 2.310 million viewers, up from 1.986 million the prior week. It had dipped below 1.9 million two times this summer. The show drew better than 2.3 million a couple of times around Royal Rumble time earlier this year. One year ago this week it drew 1.912 million for a show at the Performance Center without fans.

The ten week average viewership for Smackdown heading into this week was 1.974 million, raniging from a low of 1.861 million to a high of 2.282 million.

Among adults 18-49 years old, it drew a 0.66 rating, no. 1 on all of broadcast television on Friday night. That is up from last week’s 0.48 rating. The highest demo rating the prior ten weeks was 0.58.

Among men 18-49, it drew a 0.83 rating, up from the 0.59 rating the prior week. Among men 18-34, it drew a 0.60 rating, nearly double the 0.30 the prior week.

Smackdown featured Roman Reigns in a rare TV match (a six-man tag), Bianca Belair defending her Smackdown Title against Carmella, and a Fatal Four-way main event.