5/26 Smackdown TV Ratings – Smackdown takes a big hit on Thursday night

This week’s WWE Smackdown continued to slump in the soon-to-be-departing Thursday night timeslot on USA Network. The overall rating was down, but the key demographics were pitiful…

WWE Smackdown Ratings Tracking

May 26: Smackdown after Extreme Rules scored a 1.57 TV rating, down from a 1.62 rating last week leading into Extreme Rules.

Smackdown faced tough TV competition, including a hotly-contested NBA Western Conference Playoffs series, NHL Playoffs Game 7, and one-off ESPN Spelling Bee special.

As a result of competition or general disinterest, Smackdown nosedived in each key demographic, reaching year-lows across the board.

• Adults 18-49 fell 16 percent from last week
  • A18-49 was down 23 percent from the Q1 avg.
• Males 18-34 fell 15 percent from last week
  • M18-34 was down 39 percent from the Q1 avg.
• Males 18-49 fell 20 percent from last week
  • M18-49 was down 32 percent from the Q1 avg.

– Smackdown drew 2.112 million viewers, down eight percent (about 183,000 viewers) from last week.

It was nearly the fewest viewers of the year. Smackdown on April 28 drew 2.109 million viewers to retain the low-point.

Caldwell’s Analysis: Smackdown was in need of a shake-up long before this week’s announcement of Smackdown moving to live Tuesday night broadcasts in July. This week’s numbers definitely capture that point.