WWE SmackDown viewership stays steadily above 2 million on the road to the Royal Rumble.
On January 15th, WWE Friday Night SmackDown continued to set the stage for the 2021 Royal Rumble. Throughout the night, it appeared that Adam Pearce was preparing to sign the contract to meet Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship on Sunday, January 31, but by the end of the night, it was revealed that Kevin Owens would face Roman Reigns once again on pay-per-view for the top prize on SmackDown.
According to overnight numbers released by Showbuzz Daily, the January 15 episode of SmackDown averaged 2.153 million viewers, up from the 2.003 million viewers the January 8 episode averaged.
In the 18-49 demographic, the show averaged a 0.6 rating, up from last week. Between ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, and NBC, SmackDown was bested by Shark Tank as the highest viewed program. SmackDown also fell behind 20/20. The show also drew a 0.8 rating in the 25-54 demographic.
Hourly Breakdown:
Hour 1: 2.200 million viewers, 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
Hour 2: 2.105 million viewers, 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
Top 5 Most Viewed WWE SmackDown (1/15) Videos On YouTube:
Pearce declares Owens will challenge Reigns at Royal Rumble: (734,000 views)
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jey Uso (439,000 views)
Sasha Banks wants a match with Reginald (261,000 views)
“Ding Dong, Hello!” welcomes special guest Bianca Belair (254,000 views)
Paul Heyman aggravates Adam Pearce with Universal Title Contract changes (213,000 views)
If you missed any of the action from SmackDown, check out Fightful’s full report on the show and listen to the post-show podcast for a complete review of all the action.
For a full breakdown of viewership numbers from various wrestling programs, check out Fightful's resources page.
