SmackDown tops three million viewers for first time since WWE draft

[Big Red Machine]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com

By Paul Fontaine | @PaulAceFontaine | Apr 12, 2017 1:37 pm

Tuesday night's "Superstar Shakeup" edition of SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 3,105,000 viewers, the best number for the show since the WWE draft last July.

That number was up eight percent from last week's post-WrestleMania SmackDown and well above the 2.57 million the show has been averaging since the brand split. It also retained over 90 percent of the Raw audience from the previous night.

The show was built around new stars from Raw debuting as part of the roster shakeup, but it did not have the advantage of being a dual-branded show like the previous draft special.

SmackDown was second for the night in total viewers on cable, trailing only Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. It was first in the 18-49 demo, as it is most weeks, with a 1.05 rating.

The number was likely helped somewhat by the fact that highly rated CBS dramas NCIS and Bull aired repeats opposite SmackDown and NBC's The Voice was a clip show on Tuesday.