The flagship weekly programming for WWE, SmackDown, Raw and NXT, continues to deliver viewership gains among the key P18-49 advertising demo ahead of WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania XL in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.
In the first quarter of the year, SmackDown is averaging 892K total viewers among P18-49, up 15 percent versus the year prior. SmackDown has ranked No. 1 among P18-49 audiences across all total day Friday broadcasts for 11 of the first 12 weeks of the quarter. The Feb. 16 episode of SmackDown scored 985K viewers among P18-49, making it the most-viewed broadcast program in primetime for the entire week of Feb. 12.
Monday Night Raw averaged 733K total viewers among P18-49, up six percent versus the year prior in the first quarter. Raw ranked No. 1 among P18-49 audiences on Monday cable for nine of the 13 weeks of the quarter. The return of Pat McAfee to the commentator table during the Jan. 29 episode delivered 811K total viewers among P18-49 – up 13 percent versus the week prior – and easily ranked No. 1 on cable.
As for NXT, the first quarter saw a 31 percent increase among P18-49 versus the year prior.
“These ratings are a testament to our creative team, production crew and all of the WWE Superstars that work together week in and week out to produce these impressive results,” said WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
All three shows are headed to new platforms in the U.S. over the next year. In October 2024, SmackDown will move to USA Network and NXT will make its broadcast debut on CW. In January 2025, Raw will make its debut on Netflix.
