WWE Smackdown Ratings Report (10/27): Last Friday’s FS1 viewership holds up better than prior three October episodes bumped to FS1

Last Friday’s episode of WWE Smackdown aired on FS1 instead of Fox and drew an average of 1.145 million viewers, about half of the average rating the prior three weeks on Fox.

The show included a hyped return of Roman Reigns to participate in a contract signing with L.A. Knight for their match at WWE Crown Jewel.

The viewership was among the higher viewership numbers for Smackdown on FS1. Last October when it was bumped to FS1 for an MLB playoff game, it drew 835,000 viewers. Last July, though, it drew 1.230 million viewers on FS1. That episode also featured a hyped appearance for Reigns related to Summerslam, setting the “Rules of Engagement” for his match with Jey Uso.

Two years ago this month, Smackdown drew 1.032 million viewers on FS1.

Three years ago this month, Smackdown drew 881,000 viewers on FS1.

Four years ago, the first time it was bumped to FS1, it drew 888,000, down from 2.418 million the prior week on Fox.

So last Friday’s viewership was the best October viewership in Smackdown history on FS1.

In the key 18-49 demo, it drew a 0.35 rating, down from 0.62 average the prior three weeks.

For perspective, Raw this week drew a 0.43 rating in the key demo. NXT on USA Network this week drew a 0.20 rating in the key demo.

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