SmackDown Live Sees Big Viewership Jump
The post-SummerSlam edition of SmackDown Live, which also was the first week after the conclusion of the 2016 Summer Olympics, saw huge jump in viewership numbers.
According to Showbuzz Daily, the August 23 episode of SmackDown Live drew 2.714 million viewers. This is up 12% from last week’s show, which drew 2.471 million viewers. SmackDown Live was #3 for the night in viewership, behind The Have & Have Nots and The O’Reilly Factor, and #1 in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.98 rating.
The show had been struggling in the past few weeks, likely due to the Olympics. This had been happening since the July 26 episode, which had 2.743 million viewers. This week’s Monday Night RAW saw a viewership increase of 14% from the previous week’s episode.
This week’s episode saw the show debut the brand new SmackDown Women and Tag Team Titles. Commissioner Shane McMahon said that all six active women on the roster (Eva Marie is currently serving a 30-day suspension for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy) will compete for the new title at Backlash, the first SmackDown Live pay-per-view on September 11, in a Six-pack Challenge. The show also had the opening matches of the SmackDown Tag Team Tournament, where the finals will also be held at Backlash.
The main event was AJ Styles vs Dolph Ziggler with the stipulation if Ziggler wins, he would be added to the WWE World Championship match between Styles and champion Dean Ambrose at Backlash.
