'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
What's the story?
2019 has seen a significant dip in the ratings for both RAW and SmackDown Live. RAW saw some record lows at the end of 2018 and the ratings haven't risen to steady enough numbers to make WWE officials happy.
PWInsider.com reports that the numbers for this week's SmackDown Live largely stood even with numbers from previous weeks.
In case you didn't know . . .
RAW has largely been considered the 'A Show' while SmackDown has widely been considered the 'B Show' for much of its run. Even though it has put out some better content than RAW this year, it has also seen its numbers dip.
The heart of the matter
Late in 2018, the WWE reached a deal with the Fox Network in order to air SmackDown Live on its family of channels. Back in December 2018, it was reported that Fox wanted the ratings for SmackDown to be around 3.3 million viewers a show. Since SmackDown hasn't come close to that number, WWE has tried several things in order to increase the dipping ratings.
They first called up six Superstars from NXT including Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Heavy Machinery and EC3. After sporadic use and exposure for the new call-ups, WWE panicked and called up four more of the top wrestlers from the yellow brand in Aleister Black, Ricochet, Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. Of those four, only Black and Ricochet are permanent members of the main roster.
Mr. McMahon also instituted the Wildcard Rule which basically explained why the top stars in the company would be on both shows weekly. The 24/7 Title was also introduced, but a lot of that belt's story happens off TV and on social media.
Fox was unhappy with the low ratings and wants WWE to increase them greatly before the move in October. This week's show drew 1.89 million viewers which was down from last week's 1.921 million viewers. It was more, however, than the episode from two weeks ago which drew 1.859 million viewers.
The numbers still aren't where they need to be for the move to Fox. The show experienced it's lowest ratings ever (1.833 million viewers) on the April 30th, 2019 show. Eric Bischoff was recently brought back to WWE in order to oversee SmackDown.
What's next?
Expect WWE to try some more different things in the coming weeks in order to raise the ratings. The Street Profits were some new faces that showed up on RAW so perhaps SmackDown will see another new act join its ranks. Buddy Murphy, Ali and Aleister Black still haven't had many matches lately either.
