WWE SmackDown viewers, 18-49 rebound from prior week
Last Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 1.258 million viewers on USA, up 6.3% from the previous week’s 1,184,000 while the 18-49 demo averaged a 0.29 rating, up 26.1% from the prior week’s 0.23.
While the viewers were the third lowest audience for the show since February 27, the demo number ties the best rating SmackDown has done since April 24.
Numbers were delayed until Wednesday night due to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S.
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The Friday, May 22 episode went head-to-head with an NHL conference final on ESPN which topped the cable charts with a 0.60 18-49 rating, as well as an NBA playoff game on NBC that topped network television in the same category. SmackDown finished second on the cable charts, more than doubling anything besides the NHL game.
As compared to the same week in 2025, overall viewership was down 9% while the 18-49 rating was down 12.1%. Both year-over-year declines are much less severe than they have been most weeks this year.
Recent WWE SmackDown 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 5.5% in overall viewers and 12.1% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.
| Date | 18-49 | Total viewers |
| 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 |
| 5/1/2026 | 0.25 | 1,153,000 |
| 5/8/2026 | 0.29 | 1,279,000 |
| 5/15/2026 | 0.23 | 1,184,000 |
| 5/22/2026 | 0.29 | 1,258,000 |
| 10-week average (through 5/15) | 0.33 | 1,354,900 |
