SmackDown ratings down following last week's big number

[Big Red Machine]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com

By Paul Fontaine | @PaulAceFontaine | Feb 8, 2017 2:28 pm

SmackDown viewership was down last night to 2.627 million viewers, a drop of seven percent from the previous week, despite a main event featuring the two biggest stars on the brand in John Cena and Randy Orton.

The number was still above what the show's average has been since the brand split, so last week's big rating was most likely due to interest following the Royal Rumble two days prior.

SmackDown was 10th for the night in cable viewership but first in the 18-49 demo, with a 0.91 rating.

It should also be noted that all of the major networks ran original programming against SmackDown as well, with the biggest competition coming from CBS' NCIS and Bull which did 15.6 million and 10.8 million viewers respectively running head-to-head with SmackDown.

This was the go-home show for Sunday's Elimination Chamber PPV, the last SmackDown-exclusive PPV before WrestleMania.