The World Series proved to be insurmountable competition for professional wrestling, sending both WWE SmackDown and AEW Collision into several historical lows. Games 6 and 7 of the series between the L.A. Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays went head-to-head with WWE and AEW’s programming, leading to SmackDown’s all-time low viewership and Collision falling to its smallest 18-49 audience to date.
SmackDown’s Historic Low
The October 31 edition of SmackDown from Salt Lake City fell to 933,000 viewers and 272,000 viewers (a 0.20 rating) in the 18-49 demographic on the USA Network. According to the WrestleNomics report, both of these figures are the lowest in SmackDown’s history.
The show was already handicapped by airing on Halloween, but Game 6 of the World Series added further erosion to the audience. The baseball game averaged 17,429,000 viewers and a 3.52 rating in the key demographic on Fox, with an additional 313,000 viewers (0.09) on Fox Deportes.
Despite a 19% drop in viewership and a 31% decline in the 18-49 demo, SmackDown still ranked first among cable programming on Friday night. It finished ahead of a college football game between Syracuse and North Carolina on ESPN. The show saw a significant drop in both male and female viewership. Males in the 18-49 demo dropped by 32% to an average of 175,000 viewers, while females in the demo fell 30%, from 134,000 viewers last week to 94,000.
Collision’s Demographic Low
Saturday’s episode of AEW Collision aired against the mammoth seventh game of the World Series, resulting in the show’s all-time low in the 18-49 demographic. The November 1 taped show averaged 217,000 viewers and 41,000 (0.03) in the 18-49 demographic on TNT. This data does not include viewership from HBO Max.
Collision’s overall audience only fell by five percent, but the 18-49 audience fell by 24% from the previous week, marking the lowest figure in the show’s history. The demographic breakdown was fascinating, as females 18-49 dropped by 52% (from 27,000 to 13,000 viewers). However, males in the demo were reportedly identical to last week, with both weeks averaging 27,000 viewers, seemingly unfazed by the World Series.
Game 7 of the World Series attracted 24,829,000 viewers and a 5.85 rating in the key demo on Fox during the prime-time window, which ended at 11 p.m. ET. The game lasted another hour, meaning its total audience was even higher. Collision ranked #21 among cable programming, airing against multiple college football games and an NBA game. Collision returns to a live format for this Saturday’s airing from Houston, Texas
