WWE SmackDown ratings dip against NFL Draft coverage, NBA & NHL playoffs
Last Friday’s WWE Smackdown saw dips in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo as they were up against the NFL Draft in addition to the NBA and NHL playoffs.
The episode brought in 1.267 million viewers on USA, down 19.8% from the previous week’s 1,580,000, and their lowest audience since March 6.
It averaged a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 23.8% from the prior week’s 0.42 and tying the lowest rating it’s done there since March 6.
The show went head-to-head with NFL Draft coverage on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network which dominated the cable and network ratings charts. The show finished second on cable, and third on all television behind draft related programming.
There was also competition from both the NBA and NHL playoffs on various platforms.
As compared to the same week in 2025, overall SmackDown viewership was down 20.8% while the 18-49 rating was down 37.3%.
Recent WWE SmackDown TV ratings
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for WWE Smackdown on USA as well as the 10-week average in both categories.
This week’s show was down 5.4% in overall viewers and 3% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.
| Date | 18-49 | Total viewers |
| 2/13/2026 | 0.26 | 1,042,000 |
| 2/20/2026 | 0.29 | 1,113,000 |
| 2/27/2026 | 0.34 | 1,379,000 |
| 3/6/2026 | 0.27 | 1,190,000 |
| 3/13/2026 | 0.32 | 1,419,000 |
| 3/20/2026 | 0.32 | 1,439,000 |
| 3/27/2026 | 0.33 | 1,308,000 |
| 4/3/2026 | 0.43 | 1,508,000 |
| 4/10/2026 | 0.36 | 1,412,000 |
| 4/17/2026 | 0.42 | 1,580,000 |
| 4/24/2026 | 0.32 | 1,267,000 |
| 10-week average (through 4/17) | 0.33 | 1,339,000 |
