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Last night’s episode of SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 2.542 million viewers, up one percent from last week despite going against strong competition from the broadcast TV networks.
NBC and CBS both averaged over 10 million viewers with their season premiere episodes directly opposite SmackDown. In terms of cable competition, SmackDown was fourth for the night in total viewers and second in the 18-49 demo with a 0.82 rating.
For the fourth straight week, the show was up year-over-year. SmackDown viewership in the month of September was also up seven percent as compared to 2016’s numbers.
SmackDown retained 88 percent of the Raw audience from Monday, which was very similar to last week and most likely what the show will do throughout the NFL season.
The only thing pushed for this week’s show was the continuation of the storyline with Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon, who will face off in a Hell in a Cell match on October 8th.
Here’s a look at SmackDown ratings in 2017 and how they compare to Raw numbers from the same week: