WWE News: SmackDown Rating Virtually Unchanged, Stays Ranked 2nd (1/22/19)

A look at the rating and ranking for this week’s SmackDown Live!

With Monday Night RAW’s ratings being boosted to begin January, the red brand saw a drop this week for their final episode before Sunday’s Royal Rumble (check it out here). Meanwhile, SmackDown Live’s numbers have been solid, but less than stellar.

After a delay due to Monday’s holiday, the numbers for this week’s edition of the blue brand have now been released and there’s virtually no change from last week as Tuesday’s program drew a 2.142 rating. Here’s a look at the last four weeks of ratings for SmackDown Live:

• January 1st: 2.091
• January 8th: 2.032
• January 15th: 2.143
• January 22nd: 2.142

With regards to the Cable Top 150 Rankings for the 18-49 demographic, there was also no real change as SmackDown Live held the number two position behind History Channel’s The Curse Of Oak Island. Here is Tuesday night’s top five:

1. The Curse Of Oak Island – History – 0.83
2. SmackDown Live – USA Network – 0.69
3. *TIE* Duke vs. Pittsburgh – ESPN/Below Deck – Bravo – 0.60
4. Temptation Island – USA Network – 0.38

EA’s Take: I’m sorry, but SmackDown Live has not done a lot for me the past few weeks despite some tremendous action such as the matches between Andrade and Rey Mysterio. The biggest issue for the blue brand has always been a lack of a top draw. Before anybody comes after me for saying that, it’s nothing against the likes of AJ Styles, Becky Lynch and whoever else, but they haven’t had what I consider to be one of the few “needle movers” in WWE which is limited to Cena, Reigns, Rousey and Lesnar. I’d fully expect that to change when they move to FOX in October, but until that happens I’d anticipate the numbers for RAW to continue being much, much better than the blue brand.