Friday Night SmackDown and AEW Rampage saw their viewership take a major hit while airing against the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul event.
The November 15 episode SmackDown from Milwaukee averaged 1,234,000 viewers and 432,000 viewers (0.32) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics & Programming Insider.
The viewership dropped 20% and the core demographic audience fell by 32% from the previous week, which led to SmackDown’s lowest figures since moving to the USA Network in September.
The show still ranked second among all programming on Friday in the 18-49 demographic behind the L.A. Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs, which averaged 1,280,000 viewers and 0.35 in the demo on ESPN.
Netflix streamed its live boxing event from AT&T Stadium in Texas beginning at 8 p.m. ET with SmackDown airing before the top two fights involving Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano. Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions issued a press release stating that the Taylor vs. Serrano fight was streamed in more than 50 million households worldwide.
The Canadian viewership for SmackDown was 288,900 viewers and 124,900 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360. The viewership grew by 7% but the demo figure fell by 4% from last week. SmackDown was first for the night among sports programming beating the Toronto Raptors vs. Detroit Pistons and Nashville Predators vs. Calgary Flames. WWE Main Event ranked #7 for the night with 69,800 viewers and 36,900 in the demo immediately following SmackDown.
AEW Rampage dropped to its second-lowest figures in the history of the show going back to August 2021.
The show averaged 186,000 viewers and 75,000 viewers (0.06) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics & Programming Insider.
The viewership decline from last week was 22% while the 18-49 audience fell by 20% and were the second-lowest numbers for Rampage behind the November 8 show earlier this month.
Programming Insider listed Rampage at #15 among cable originals in prime-time on Friday airing against the Taylor vs. Serrano fight on Netflix and the late game on ESPN between the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.