Report: WWE SmackDown "Underperforming"
The show is struggling in the 18-49 demographic.
Dec 10, 2019
Last week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown saw a five percent increase in viewership, rising from 2.336 million to 2.446 million.
Despite this, WWE continued to struggle in the key 18-49 demographic. The show did 0.70 in the demographic, but only 0.45 in 18-34 year olds.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live
, Bryan Alvarez noted that SmackDown was "underperforming" in the 18-49 Demographic, particularly when compared to what was discussed when FOX agreed to the TV deal with WWE.
He said: "The expectation for SmackDown on FOX on Friday Nights was […] an average of a 1.0 in that 18-49 demo. They are coming nowhere close to averaging 1.0 in that demo. Now in the short term it doesn’t matter because the numbers, the demos, everything is strong enough that there’s no concern of them being kicked off FOX any time in the near future. But they were paid a certain amount of money, and by a certain amount I mean a lot, to get a 1.0 in that demo."
He later added: "They are underperforming. They are underperforming in that demo. They are underperforming in total viewers, but it’s not anything to be massively concerned about."
