• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MMA Payout

The Business of Combat Sports

  • Home
  • MMA
    • UFC
    • Bellator
    • One
    • PFL
  • Boxing
  • Legal
  • Ratings
  • Payouts
  • Attendance
  • Gate

Friday Night Smackdown draws lowest ratings airing on Fox

April 19, 2020 by Jason Cruz Leave a Comment

WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew the lowest ratings of its time on Fox with the second hour producing just slightly over 2.1 million viewers according to Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily. 

The telecasts are being done without a live audience which seems to be hurting home viewership.

Friday night the two-hour telecast drew 2.239M viewers in the first hour and 2.145M in the second hour.  SmackDown drew a 0.6 in the A18-49 demo and a 4 share in the M18-49 demo. 

While it had been winning the young demo, it has dropped the past several weeks to the likes of Shark Tank on ABC and Magnum P.I. on CBS.  This week, even 20/20 drew a higher rating in the A18-49 demo.

Payout Perspective:

Even with WWE doing live shows despite the pandemic, its clear that they are losing viewership.  It’s not clear whether live audiences will help their descent or if it’s the storylines that are dragging viewership down.  It was a turbulent week for the company but one thing that needs to be addressed is television. 

Filed Under: FOX, Friday Night SmackDown, ratings, WWE

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Featured

Opetaia fires back at IBF in opposition to MTD

UFC 331 Payout Perspective

UFC 331 attendance, gate and bonuses

Scott Coker is back with Ki MMA

TKO owns this weekend

Appeals Court sets date for oral argument in Zuffa appeal

Archives

MMA Payout Follow

MMAPayout

For the few that are following the William Keane lawsuit against #TopRank #Boxing the Court finally issued an order denying the Motion to Dismiss @DanRafael1 @EzRawBoxing @Boxing_Tribune

Debate between colleagues fail to show any difference via @nwasianweekly

Retweet on Twitter MMA Payout Retweeted

Do Guardian Caps actually prevent concussions? @ChrisNowinski1 tells @PabloTorre why the story "appears to be a bit of a scam":

"[The NFL's] own published study showed it wasn't true."

"They love that the public sees the Guardian Caps because it's basically virtue-signaling."

Retweet on Twitter MMA Payout Retweeted

#UFC332 attendance and gate were a serious drop from previous #UFC numbered events at the Delta Center https://mmapayout.com/2026/10/04/ufc-332-attendance/

Retweet on Twitter MMA Payout Retweeted

A truly mortifying decision.

Beyond disrespectful to generations of Murrow college alumnus. A reprehensible decision motivated purely by greed and a disregard for the integrity of journalism. Damaging the credibility of degrees earned by hard-working and passionate students.

Copyright © 2026 · MMA Payout: The Business of Combat Sports