The return and apparent heel turn of Roman Reigns helps boosts the overnight viewership numbers of Friday Night SmackDown
According to overnight numbers released by Showbuzz Daily, the August 28 episode of SmackDown averaged 2.181 million viewers, up from the 2.167 million viewers the August 21 episode averaged. This was the highest viewership number for SmackDown in months, with a number just shy of the viewership number on April 24 when it averaged 2.192 million viewers.
In the 18-49 demographic, the show drew a 0.6 rating, which is identical to last week's rating. Between ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, and NBC, SmackDown garnered the highest rating in the 18-49 demo. The show also drew a 0.7 rating in the 25-54 demographic, which is identical to last week's rating in that same demo.
Hourly Breakdown:
Hour 1: 2.210 million viewers, 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
Hour 2: 2.151 million viewers, 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic
Top 5 Most Viewed WWE SmackDown (8/28) Videos On YouTube:
Roman Reigns turns to Paul Heyman ahead of WWE Payback (1.1 million views)
Alexa Bliss smashes friendship with Nikki Cross (523,000 views)
Sami Zayn returns to shake up the Intercontinental Title picture (443,000 views)
Drew Gulak vs. Braun Strowman (412,000 views)
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler call out Bayley & Sasha Banks ahead of Payback (349,000 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 on viewership numbers from various wrestling programs, check out Fightful's resources page.
