It was reported over the weekend that the overnight viewership figure for the 07/24 episode of Friday Night SmackDown was at 1.971 million. This was up from the 1.912 million of the previous week.
For those that can’t remember, the show featured a singles match between best friends Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss, as well as the Bar Fight between rivals Jeff Hardy and Sheamus.
Well, it seems like the overnight figure for SmackDown that was reported over the weekend wasn’t too accurate, and the final figure is actually a little bit lower than initially believed.
The first SmackDown show on FOX since Extreme Rules drew an average of 1.924 million viewers according to ShowBuzz Daily. This down by 47,000 from what the initial report had us believed.
Thankfully for WWE, the 07/24 show still drew 12,000 more viewers than the show which took place a week before on July 17. The show was also significantly better received by fans online.
Next week’s show features two title matches, with Nikki Cross and Gran Metalik challenging Bayley and AJ Styles for the SmackDown Women’s and Intercontinental Championships respectively.
As such, WWE will likely be hoping to see another increase in viewership, with it being clear that the company is now giving pay-per-view caliber matches away for free on TV to boost ratings.
Speaking of TV ratings, Vince McMahon recently spoke about the plans WWE has in the wake of record-low viewership figures. You can read more about that by clicking here.
