WWE News: SmackDown Live Audience Rises Heading Into Extreme Rules (7/10/18)

Last week’s episode of WWE’s SmackDown Live fell on the eve of the Fourth Of July holiday here in the United States, which seemed to be reflected in the program’s ratings. Following a historically bad week for RAW this past Monday (the lowest rating in the show’s history, which you can find here), would the blue brand be able to turn it around last night? The numbers are in and the answer is, “Yes”.

The final edition of SmackDown Live last night featured Team Hell No and The New Day against The Bludgeon Brothers and SAnitY in the main event, came in with a rating of 2.183, up 8.44% from last week’s 2.013, which was the lowest rating since Halloween 2017. SmackDown Live also clocked in at the number one spot in the Cable Top 150 Rankings for the 18-49 demographic, beating out MTV’s The Challenge (2nd), Below Deck Mediterranean (3rd), Chrisley Knows Best (4th) and Haves And Have Nots (5th). Last week, the blue brand was knocked out of a weeks-long trend of being ranked number one by FIFA World Cup action.

Here are the last four weeks of ratings for SmackDown Live:

• June 19th: 2.315
• June 26th: 2.135
• July 3rd: 2.013
• July 10th: 2.183

Source: Showbuzz Daily

EA’s Take: It’s not superb news, but still a step up from last week which was undoubtedly due to the holiday (I know, soccer’s the most popular sport in the world, but not here in America and it never will be). It’s funny to think that RAW can pull its worst rating ever, but the number is still a good bit higher than anything SmackDown Live has drawn over the past month and nobody seems to bat an eye. I also still wonder how much this could change once the move to FOX is made because there’s a number of factors to consider. If WWE does “load up” SmackDown Live for the move, having the show on Friday nights I think will hurt, specifically in that crucial 18-49 demographic. Unlike myself, most people have some semblance of a life and aren’t going to stay home to watch wrestling. Just something interesting to consider.

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