SmackDown Final Viewership Expected To Take Big Hit Due To NFL Pre-Emption

Update: SmackDown ended up with 2.08 million viewers in the final viewership numbers.

Original: WWE brought a big show for SmackDown this week as they continued the build toward SummerSlam. There was also a terrible issue for some fans, because they couldn’t watch the show due to the NFL preseason pre-empting the blue brand. That will go on to put a sizable dent in the final viewership.

We previously reported that SmackDown brought an overnight average of 2.4985 million viewers. They also garnered a .6 in the coveted 18 to 49 demographic. The final number isn’t expected to be that high at all.

That overnight average counted all homes that were watching FOX. The problem is that SmackDown wasn’t on every affiliate. Since SmackDown was the regular programming during that timeslot, WWE got all those viewers.

Bryan Alvarez answered back to a fan boasting about WWE’s numbers, and he had to set the record straight.

It’s not 2.5 million. That includes markets which pre-empted Smackdown and aired the NFL. The actual number minus NFL viewership will be out Tuesday. It might still be good but it won’t be anywhere near 2.5 million.

We’ll have to see how big of a dent those NFL preseason games puts on SmackDown’s final viewership number. They will likely see a few hundred thousand chopped off when everything is said and done.

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