WWE Boasts Strong TV Ratings Performance in Anticipation of WrestleMania 40

WWE has announced significant viewership gains across its flagship weekly programming – SmackDown, Raw, and NXT – among the crucial P18-49 advertising demographic ahead of WrestleMania XL, the company’s biggest event of the year, set to take place in Philadelphia on April 6th and 7th.

Here’s a breakdown of the viewership gains for each program:

Friday Night SmackDown on FOX:

• In Q1 2024, SmackDown has seen a 15 percent increase in total viewers among the P18-49 demographic compared to the previous year.
• SmackDown has consistently ranked as the top program among P18-49 audiences across all total day Friday broadcasts for 11 out of the first 12 weeks of the quarter.
• The February 16th episode of SmackDown drew an impressive 985K viewers among P18-49, making it the most-viewed primetime broadcast program for the entire week of February 12th.

Monday Night Raw on USA Network:

• Raw has seen a six percent increase in total viewers among P18-49 in Q1 2024 compared to the previous year.
• Raw has dominated Monday cable programming among P18-49 audiences for nine out of the 13 weeks of the quarter.
• The unexpected return of Pat McAfee to the commentator table during the January 29th episode resulted in 811K total viewers among P18-49, marking a 13 percent increase from the previous week and securing the top spot on cable.

NXT on USA Network:

• NXT has experienced a remarkable 31 percent increase in total viewers among P18-49 in Q1 2024 compared to the previous year.

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque attributed these impressive ratings to the collaborative efforts of the creative team, production crew, and WWE Superstars.

In addition to these ratings successes, WWE has announced significant changes to its programming platforms in the U.S. Over the next year, SmackDown will transition to USA Network and NXT will make its broadcast debut on CW in October 2024. In January 2025, Raw will make history with its debut on Netflix.

WrestleMania XL will be exclusively available for streaming in the U.S. on Peacock.

What factors do you think have contributed to the significant viewership gains for WWE’s flagship programs, SmackDown, Raw, and NXT, among the P18-49 demographic? How do you anticipate these changes in programming platforms, such as SmackDown moving to USA Network and NXT debuting on CW, will impact WWE’s audience reach and viewership in the future? Let us know in the comments below.