WWE News: SmackDown Live viewership sees slight increase

What’s the story?

This week’s episode of SmackDown Live averaged 2.680 million viewers; up slightly from last’s 2.662 million. The most promoted match on the show was the main event between Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.

In case you didn’t know...

The Nov. 28 edition of SmackDown featured some big matches including The New Day taking on Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable, The Riott Squad taking on Charlotte, Natalya and Naomi, and the main event between Randy Orton and Kevin Owens that was booked by GM Daniel Bryan and made a No Disqualification Match by Commissioner Shane McMahon.

The heart of the matter

SmackDown was up against several NBA games, primarily the games between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers as well as the Phoenix Suns taking on the Chicago Bulls.

SmackDown’s average was only up 18,000 views but was within range of Raw’s viewership average of 2.759 million that ended a two-week viewership increase for the Flagship Show.

SmackDown has maintained its viewership increase for four weeks straight and bounced back from the 2.119 million average back on Oct. 31. SmackDown’s viewership rebound began with the UK Show on Nov. 7 where AJ Styles won his second WWE Championship and has continued to rise since.

This week’s show was up slightly compared to last week but was up more than 100,000 viewers compared to last year’s episode on Nov. 29, 2016.

What’s next?

Next week’s episode of SmackDown will take place on Dec. 6 and will be up against six NBA games. Five games will start prior to SmackDown and continue into the broadcast while the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks will begin at the same time as SmackDown.

Unlike Monday Night Raw, SmackDown is building towards the Clash of Champions pay-per-view and will more than likely announce more matches for the show on Sunday, December 17.