Without Reigns & against NBA, SmackDown’s ratings down but still strong

On Fri., June 9, WWE was without Roman Reigns AND up against Game 4 of the NBA Finals. No one expected SmackDown to maintain its massive numbers from the week before. That show not only got a night free of post-season basketball and hockey, but featured Reigns receiving a redesigned title and following up on a hot angle from Night of Champions.

So the question wasn’t if the blue show’s numbers would drop last Friday, but by how much? And the answer is... to 2,278,000 viewers and a .60 rating among 18-49 year olds.

Those numbers were third on all of television, behind only the Denver Nuggets win over the Miami Heat (which was watched by more than 10 million and did a 3.23 in the demo) and its pre-game show on ABC. Excluding June 9, last Friday was the best performing episode of SmackDown since the Draft episode in late April.

Not bad. Now the question becomes if/how much they can improve this week with Roman back, no NBA on the schedule, and a decent chance the Stanley Cup will already be partying in Vegas (the Florida Panthers have to win tomorrow night to force a Game 6 on Friday).

While you ponder that, here’s a rundown of the past year’s worth of SmackDown’s numbers:

• June 10 - 1.91 / .44
• June 17 - 2.29 / .57
• June 24 - 2.23 / .53
• July 1 - 2.14 / .49
• July 8 - 2.13 / .47
• July 15 - 2.08 / .47
• July 22 - 2.26 / .62
• July 29 - 2.19 / .52
• Aug. 5 - 2.09 / .49
• Aug. 12 - 1.93 / .44
• Aug. 19 - 2.08 / .47
• Aug. 26 - 1.99 / .48
• Sept. 2 - 2.08 / .49
• Sept. 9 - 2.37 / .57
• Sept. 16 - 2.21 / .50
• Sept. 23 - 2.54 / .63
• Sept. 30 - 2.21 / .54
• Oct. 7 - 2.24 / .54
• Oct. 14 - 2.27 / .54
• Oct. 21 - 2.23 / .52
• Oct. 28* - 835K / .23
• Nov. 4 - 2.14 million / .48
• Nov. 11 - 2.26 / .58
• Nov. 18 - 2.23 / .56
• Nov. 25 - 2.17 / .54
• Dec. 2* - 902K / .25
• Dec. 9 - 2.31 million / .57
• Dec. 16 - 2.19 / .52
• Dec. 23 - 2.38 / .55
• Dec. 30 - 2.63 / .64
• Jan. 6 - 2.26 / .53
• Jan. 13 - 2.33 / .55
• Jan. 20 - 2.26 / .55
• Jan. 27 - 2.54 / .67
• Feb. 3 - 2.38 / .61
• Feb. 10 - 2.47 / .64
• Feb. 17 - 2.38 / .58
• Feb. 24 - 2.41 / .62
• Mar. 3 - 2.45 / .59
• Mar. 10 - 2.32 / .63
• Mar. 17 - 2.26 / .59
• Mar. 24 - 2.22 / .58
• Mar. 31 - 2.49 / .69
• April 7 - 2.47 / .69
• April 14 - 2.27 / .58
• April 21 - 2.18 / .54
• April 28 - 2.47 / .67
• May 5 - 2.06 / .52
• May 12 - 2.15 / .56
• May 19 - 2.13 / .53
• May 26 - 2.16 / .52
• June 2 - 2.56 / .73
• June 9 - 2.28 / .60

* Aired on FS1

For complete results and this week’s SmackDown live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.

Numbers via Showbuzz Daily