WWE SmackDown Falls In 3/17 Ratings While AEW Rampage Rises

With heavy NCAA basketball competition for "WWE SmackDown," and "AEW Rampage" airing outside of its usual time slot, the Nielsen ratings for March 17's wrestling TV shows were going to be interesting no matter what. Indeed, per the reporting of ShowBuzzDaily and Wrestlenomics, for the first time in weeks, "SmackDown" was not the top show on television for Friday in the vaunted "key demo" most valued by advertisers, adults aged 18 to 49, while "Rampage" continued its positive momentum of the last few weeks.

Though "SmackDown" was bested in both the key demo and total viewers by several March Madness games, its numbers still held up well. Friday's show averaged 2,258,000 viewers in all demographics (down 3% from the prior week), approximately 770,000 of which were in the key demo (down 7%). The latter figure translates to an 0.59 demo rating. Compared to the median figures that Wrestlenomics tracks on a rolling four-week basis, the only positive change was in adults aged 18-34, where the show saw a surprising 8% gain. The biggest shifts in the other direction came in adults aged 35 to 49 and all viewers outside the 18 to 49 demo, both of which dropped by the same 8%.

As for "Rampage," with a 12:06 a.m. start time on the east coast, it averaged 474,000 viewers (up 6% over March 10), about 235,000 of which were adults aged 18 to 49 (up 18% over the prior week). The latter figure translates to a 0.18 demo rating, which garnered 26th place in ShowBuzzDaily's rankings of Friday's cable originals. Compared to the rolling four week median, males aged 12 to 34 saw a 114% increase, with adults 18 to 49 (76% increase), males 18 to 49 (74% increase), women 18 to 49 (up 63%), adults 18 to 34 (up 87%), and adults 35 to 49 (up 72%) also showing particularly strong increases.