WWE News: Smackdown Live Before Hell in a Cell draws lowest viewership in several months
What's the story?
As reported by ShowBuzz Daily, this week's Smackdown live Draws Lowest Viewership in several months.
In case you didn't know...
Last Smackdown Featured an opening segment of an interview with Shinsuke Nakamura which was cut short by the Singh Brothers and it led to Jinder Mahal attacking him from behind.Then the numbers game came into play and Jinder Mahal quickly hits Khalas on the Challenger for Hell in a Cell.
It also featured several matches like Bobby Roode vs Mike Kenelis and Charlotte & Becky Lynch Vs Natalya & Carmella.Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens went face to face at the final segment of the night where Kevin Owens attacked Shane.
The heart of the matter
However, the viewership figures for last night's show do no leave a positive reading, last night's Smackdown Live drew 2.323 Million Viewers which is 8.6% down from last week's 2.542 Million. The last time when Smackdown Live's viewership went on dropped this low was in June, earlier this year.
SmackDown was #9 in viewership for this week, behind MLB on ESPN, Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Fox News Tonight, The Five, The Story, Fox & Friends and Special Report. SmackDown was #3 in the 18-49 demographic, behind the MLB and American Horror Story.
In comparison, Monday's RAW drew 2.773 million viewers, down from last week's 2.923 million viewers and the lowest number going back to mid-June as well. It topped SmackDown viewership by 16%.
Below is our 2017 SmackDown Viewership Tracker:
January 3rd Episode: 2.596 million viewers
January 10th Episode: 2.533 million viewers
January 17th Episode: 2.652 million viewers
January 24th Episode: 2.556 million viewers
January 31st Episode: 2.817 million viewers
February 7th Episode: 2.627 million viewers
February 14th Episode: 2.626 million viewers
February 21st Episode: 2.792 million viewers
February 28th Episode: 2.566 million viewers
March 7th Episode: 2.738 million viewers
March 14th Episode: 2.628 million viewers
March 21st Episode: 2.647 million viewers
March 28th Episode: 2.698 million viewers
April 4th Episode: 2.885 million viewers
April 11th Episode: 3.105 million viewers
April 18th Episode: 2.544 million viewers
April 25th Episode: 2.493 million viewers
May 2nd Episode: 2.300 million viewers
May 9th Episode: 2.348 million viewers
May 16th Episode: 2.175 million viewers
May 23rd Episode: 2.328 million viewers
May 30th Episode: 2.350 million viewers
June 6th Episode: 2.349 million viewers
June 13th Episode: 2.072 million viewers
June 20th Episode: 2.597 million viewers
June 27th Episode: 2.603 million viewers
July 4th Episode: 2.329 million viewers
July 11th Episode: 2.465 million viewers
July 18th Episode: 2.548 million viewers
July 25th Episode: 2.535 million viewers
August 1st Episode: 2.569 million viewers
August 8th Episode: 2.584 million viewers
August 15th Episode: 2.530 million viewers
August 22nd Episode: 2.685 million viewers
August 29th Episode: 2.455 million viewers
September 5th Episode: 2.582 million viewers
September 12th Episode: 2.754 million viewers
September 19th Episode: 2.510 million viewers
September 26th Episode: 2.542 million viewers
October 3rd Episode: 2.323 million viewers
What's Next?
You can expect to see a response from the company towards this embarrassing viewership. Vince McMahon is surely going to put up something big next week to bring the ratings back on track.
Author's Take
One of the factors that can work really well in their favour is The Phenomenal One. AJ Styles went on to a dark match last night but he didn't fight for TV Tapings and it did not end very well for WWE. It is evident that the fans sitting in their homes watching Smackdown Live on TV also wants to watch AJ Styles in action and it will certainly boost their TRP.
Let us hope that SmackDown Live brings bounces back from this misery and treat its audience with indulging storylines.