WrestleMania season is usually good to WWE television. In the lead up to the year's biggest show, WWE almost always sees their television ratings increase.
However, this year told a different story. RAW's television ratings decreased nearly every week in the lead-up to Mania, and SmackDown's viewership stayed relatively stagnant throughout the month of March.
In the first week following WrestleMania 32, RAW saw its television viewership increase significantly versus the previous week (4.094 million this week versus 3.764 million the week before). WWE SmackDown was no different, with viewership this week coming in at 2.44 million viewers. The March 31 edition of SmackDown, the final show before WrestleMania, drew 2.33 million viewers.
Among adults aged 18-49, SmackDown drew a 0.71 rating. That number was also up slightly; last week’s show drew a 0.69 rating in that demographic.
On a related note, WWE aired their one-hour version of this past Saturday's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony following SmackDown this week. The edited-down broadcast of the Hall of Fame show drew-in 1.67 million viewers on Thursday night.
This ratings figure was down considerably from last year’s Hall of Fame broadcast that drew 2.10 million viewers. Both shows were one hour versions of the ceremony; the only way to view the entire ceremony continues to be on the WWE Network.
credits : whatculture.com
