October 4 saw WWE's final stop before the Bad Blood Premium Live Event as "WWE SmackDown" emanated from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bloodline defended their WWE Tag Team Championships in a hellacious ladder match against the Street Profits and DIY, Chelsea Green ended the evening in a dumpster at the hands of Michin, and AJ Styles made his first televised appearanceagainst Carmelo Hayes. With all that said, how many people tuned in live to see everything unfold?
According to "Wrestlenomics," the October 4 episode of "SmackDown" averaged 1,518,000 viewers, down 3 percent from the 1,568,000 viewers from the previous week. The show was also down 7 percent compared to the trailing four-week average of 1,639,000 viewers, but that figure includes the final episode of "SmackDown" to air on FOX (September 6). While the average viewership dropped, the key 18-49 demographic went in the opposite direction as the show earned a 0.47 number, up 4 percent from the 0.45 from September 27. This number is 2 percent lower than the trailing four-week average, but again, that figure includes the show's last week on FOX.
With 0.47, "SmackDown" ranked first for the night for all primetime shows to air on cable for Friday night, according to "Programming Insider," marking the third time in four weeks the show has achieved that feat. They soundly beat everything that aired on FOX News, two WNBA playoff games, and the college football game between Houston and TCU that aired on ESPN.
However, "SmackDown" finished second for the night when including broadcast television behind the Big10 Oregon/Michigan State game that aired on FOX, and just missed out on cracking the top 10 for overall viewership when broadcast TV is included.
