On the July 4th holiday, a night where television viewership is traditionally lower, WWE Friday Night SmackDown delivered a strong performance, drawing an average of 1.166 million viewers for its broadcast on the USA Network. The program was the top-rated show on all of cable for the night, scoring a 0.32 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic. This viewership was particularly notable on a night where even the most-watched program, NBC’s fireworks special, saw a significant viewership decline from the prior year.
SmackDown’s rating in the 18-49 demo made it the #3 program of the entire night on television, including broadcast networks, trailing only two airings of the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC. The show also earned a 0.39 rating in the adults 25-54 demographic, where it again ranked #1 on cable and #3 overall for the night. The viewership was driven by a strong male audience, with a 0.37 rating in males 18-49 and a 0.46 in males 25-54.
The show’s robust performance came on a unique holiday night where its primary competition was NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, which was the most-watched program of the evening with 3.603 million viewers. Other competition during the time slot included holiday specials on Fox News and reruns of Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC and NCIS: Sydney on CBS.
