WWE SmackDown drops below one million viewers
Friday night’s WWE SmackDown averaged 990,000 viewers on USA Network, down 15.7 percent from the prior week. This marks the lowest audience total for the show since Halloween night 2025.
The episode took place from Berlin, Germany and aired live on Netflix outside of the United States prior to the USA Network airing. It was headlined by a big title change with Drew McIntyre defeating Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match to become the new WWE Champion.
In the 18-49 demo, the USA Network broadcast drew a 0.26 rating. That’s down 7.1 percent from the previous week and is the third-highest number the show has done in that category since November 28.
SmackDown went head-to-head with a College Football Playoff game on ESPN that topped all of television with a 3.86 rating in 18-49 and drew more than 17 million viewers. SmackDown was second on TV in the key demo during a night where the main English-language broadcast networks combined for less than nine million viewers overall.
As compared to the same week in 2025, when Nielsen was still using its old panel-only measurement system, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 31.1 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 35 percent.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership numbers and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, along with the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 11.6 percent in viewers but steady in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
WWE SmackDown ratings —
| Date | 18-49 | Total viewers |
| 10/31/2025 | 0.20 | 933,000 |
| 11/7/2025 | 0.26 | 1,141,000 |
| 11/14/2025 | 0.27 | 1,158,000 |
| 11/21/2025 | 0.29 | 1,210,000 |
| 11/28/2025 | 0.28 | 1,142,000 |
| 12/5/2025 | 0.24 | 1,063,000 |
| 12/12/2025 | 0.26 | 1,240,000 |
| 12/19/2025 | 0.21 | 995,000 |
| 12/26/2025 | 0.27 | 1,138,000 |
| 1/2/2026 | 0.28 | 1,175,000 |
| 1/9/2026 | 0.26 | 990,000 |
| 10-week average | 0.26 | 1,119,500 |
