SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…
The debut episode of WWE Friday Night Smackdown on Fox drew 3.896 million viewers, according to overnight broadcast ratings. The show was no. 1, by a wide margin, in pretty much every demographic. Fox, in a press release, touted that the viewership marked an 85 percent jump over the previous four weeks of Smackdown ratings, which averaged 2.098 million.
The Apr. 9, 2018 Raw’s first hour drew 4.098 million viewers. The Jan. 22, 2018 episode of Raw drew 4.803 million viewers in the first hour and averaged a higher viewership number; that was the “Raw 25” special. Other than that, Raw averaged more than 3 million viewers on July 22 for each hour.
We also received access to the ratings for each 30 minute block from a TV industry ratings source.
8:00-8:30 p.m. – 4.058 million
8:30-9:00 p.m. – 3.782 million
9:00-9:30 – 3.862 million
9:30-10:00 p.m. – 3.773 million
In the time period on Fox, it was up 250 percent versus the week-ago adult 18-49 viewership and up 40 percent versus year-ago in adult 18-49 viewership.