AEW Rampage Increases In Viewership For Friday While WWE SmackDown Falls Slightly
Albeit tiny, there's a small change of fortune when it came to viewership this past Friday for "WWE SmackDown" and "AEW Rampage." Wrestlenomics shared viewership information for Friday night and the October 21 episode of "SmackDown" was watched by an average of 2,231,000 viewers overall, down two percent from the previous week.
The 18-49 demographic was also down, by four percent, as it was watched by an average of 678,000 viewers aged 18-49 for a 0.52 P18-49 rating.
The live episode of "Rampage" saw a bit of a boost Friday as it was watched by an average of 480,000 viewers overall, up five percent from last week's program.
However, the key demographic was significantly down from the week before. "Rampage" on Friday was watched by an average of 170,000 viewers aged 18-49 for a 0.13 P18-49 rating. That's down 23 percent from the week before which had 220,000 viewers aged 18-49.
From a ranking perspective, "SmackDown" placed third in broadcast primetime overall in the key demographic. "Rampage" placed 38th in the category and 24th in cable originals. The home run hitter for Friday was the MLB NLCS game between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres on FS1 with a 1.12 P18-49 rating.
"Rampage" viewership still saw a drop from a year ago. The October 22, 2021 episode had an average total viewership of 533,000, ten percent more than this past Friday. The demographic number is down by over 40 percent. Last year's episode had a 0.22 P18-49 rating.
"Smackdown" also encountered a slight decrease from this time last year. Last year's program was watched by an average of 2,249,000 viewers overall, down just one percent. The key demographic saw a bigger dip at ten percent with last year's episode getting a 0.58 P18-49 rating.