WWE News: Smackdown Live viewership up from last week
The go-home show to TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs drew 2.576 million viewers, up from last week’s 2.505 million viewers, which is a 2.8% increase from last week.
The main event of SmackDown Live’s main event was a Tag Team match, between American Alpha against Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton (The New Wyatt Family) to determine the Number One contender’s to Heath Slater & Rhyno’s Smackdown Tag Team Championships at TLC
Although this was the go-home show to TLC, there was only a two-week build up to the Pay-Per-View since Survivor Series. Perhaps, due to a clash of dates, they decided to hold TLC this early. This is perhaps, why all the matches but one (the tag team championship match) are based on feuds that were running prior to Survivor Series.
Also, every match of the show, except the Tag Team match, has stipulations.
The episode of SmackDown Live itself had more filler to it than anything, but regardless, there must be external circumstances that drew more viewers in this week, because both Raw and SmackDown Live went up in viewership numbers, even if it was only by a little. Raw garnered 3.11 million viewers.
Some believe that the dipping popularity of NFL could have been a contributor to Raw’s recent viewership increase.
SmackDown Live was 8th on the night for total viewership and #3 in the 18-49 demographic, behind Curse of Oak Island and Fixer Upper. Since the brand split, the ratings for the blue brand have been far stronger than it was before the brand split when it used to air on Thursday nights.
Prior to the split, Smackdown Live was more or less a Raw recap show with no real storyline progression. Thankfully, the brand split has benefited the blue brand greatly. The show on Tuesday night ended with Number One Contender Dean Ambrose attacking AJ Styles, who sent James Ellsworth to the “hospital” previously that night
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