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Greg DeMarco’s Ratings Analysis for WWE Smackdown On FOX (5/20/2022): #2 Among Network Shows
Greg DeMarco chimes in with your May 20 WWE Smackdown ratings. What does it really tell us? Greg tells you!
Greg DeMarco chimes in with your May 20 WWE Smackdown ratings. What does it really tell us? Greg tells you!
We now have your April 30 edition of WWE Smackdown ratings, and it’s not the best news. Let’s start with the breakdown:
- 2.031 million viewers
- .45 rating in the all important 18-49 demographic
- ranked #2 among all network shows for the night (behind ABC’s Shark Tank)
(Available via ShowbuzzDaily)
WWE Smackdown On FOX Numbers for Nerds (like me)…
Let’s take a look at the change over last week, shall we?
- +138k viewers over last week’s 1.893 million (+7.29%)
- +.5 in the demo rating over last week’s .40
- ranked #2 among all network shows for the night last Friday (behind ABC’s Shark Tank)
What does it all mean, Greg?
What does it mean? It means it was a good week! Positive change in the viewership and demo rating, but most importantly finishing #2 in the demo for the week.
Any other factors to consider:
- ESPN had two NBA Conference Semifinal games on Friday night, one of which overlapped WWE Smackdown On FOX
- Turner had three NHL Conference Quarterfinal games on Friday night, two of which overlapped WWE Smackdown On FOX
- All of the above listed games finished in the top ten, but for cable
While it’s not the same medium (cable instead of network), it’s going to pull viewers from Smackdown due to the nature of the populations that watch. They are not directly competition, but something to be considered when looking at the results. Keep in mind that Smackdown improved those metrics week over week, against that competition.
One thing to consider for next week: Memorial Day Weekend, where people are headed out of town. We might get a Shark Tank rerun, and I can expect a dip in viewership. But given the loyalty of wrestling fans, the holiday weekend might actually cause WWE Smackdown On FOX to finish #1 for the night on the network.
Why is the ranking the most important stat to consider?
For WWE Smackdown On FOX, advertisers are going to primarily look at one thing (this applies to all TV show ratings, outside of live sports*): how did you finish against your competition on the same night, on the same medium. For Smackdown, this means all other network shows on Friday night. What you can’t do is compare to last year, or decades ago during the Monday Night Wars. No one with any actual decision making powers cares about that, so why should we?
*Yes, WWE Smackdown On Fox (and Monday Night Raw) is live, but it’s not a sport. At least not for the networks, who are provided with 52 weeks of episodic programming that consistently delivers. Live sporting leagues don’t run 52 weeks/year, and more of a special event than RAW or Smackdown.
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Did your picks win points?
The AEW Continental Classic is underway, with almost everyone competing. Check in here if you haven’t seen the winners and losers of week 1!
Here are your Gold League standings!
- Jon Moxley: 1-0, 3 points
- Swerve Strickland: 1-0, 3 points
- Jay White: 1-0, 3 points
- Rush: 0-1, 0 points
- Mark Briscoe: 0-1, 0 points.
- Jay Lethal: 0-1, 0 points
Here are your Blue League standings!
- Brody King: 1-0, 3 points
- Claudio Castagnoli: 1-0, 3 points
- Daniel Garcia: 0-1, 0 points
- Eddie Kingston: 0-1, 0 points
- Bryan Danielson: Yet to Compete
- Andrade El Idolo: Yet to Compete
My Thoughts:
Nothing too crazy, nothing too wild, this tournament only just got started. The only disappointing point is that they could not get Bryan “cleared to compete” Saturday night. Not sure how much of that is shoot given the bad eye, but this was kinda the problem of wanting him in the tournament over tons of other choices. Bryan wants to face Okada for WrestleKingdom 18, how is Bryan supposed to do that at his best if he’s also gonna be in a round robin, doing five top level matches in about as many weeks? And it takes away from Andrade being able to do something. Also a little surprised we didn’t even hear from Andrade on Saturday.
Now as we heard on Saturday, round two’s matches are set. Gold League will see Mark Briscoe VS Rush, White VS Swerve, and of course, Moxley VS Lethal. Nice variety there, a couple 0-1 guys facing off, as well as two 1-0 guys, and then 1-0 VS 0-1. No offense to Lethal, but he feels like an 0-2 going up against Moxley. Hard to call the other ones but that’s the fun of it. Meanwhile, Blue League sees Brody VS Claudio in a showdown to be 2-0, then Bryan and Andrade finally jump in, Bryan against Eddie and Andrade against Garcia. Sadly, feels like Eddie and Garcia are going 0-2, no way Tony Khan is booking Bryan and Andrade to lose their first shots.
In fact, that could be half the reason they did wait on those two, that’s almost too good for just a first round opener. But I still would’ve done it, same as NJPW does stuff like that for round robins, which this is all modeled after anyway.
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Tony Khan Reveals the Blue and Gold “Leagues!”
Originally livestreamed, Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone officially announced the twelve total entrants and divided them into the two round robin blocks known as the “Blue League” and “Gold League.” If you don’t feel like sifting through the almost 30 minute video, the groups are:
Blue League
- Bryan Danielson
- Andrade El Idolo
- Brody King
- Claudio Castagnoli
- Daniel Garcia
- Eddie Kingston
Gold League
- Jon Moxley
- Swerve Strickland
- Rush
- Mark Briscoe
- Jay Lethal
- Jay White
Tony Khan also explains the rules for the Continental Classic:
- Every match has a 20 minute time limit
- The winner of each match earns 3 points, losers earn 0, 1 point for a draw
- EVERYONE ELSE is banned from ringside for true 1v1 action
Eddie Kingston also joined the selection special as his “life’s work” is on the line in this tournament, both the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line as part of the modern day North American Triple Crown Eddie, Tony Khan, AEW, ROH and NJPW are looking to create together. Gold League competes tonight on Dynamite while Blue League will have their start this Saturday on Collision. Look for more articles like this one to keep up with the Continental Classic standings over the next six weeks of tournament action!
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