Smackdown rating drops, but viewership hold steady, up against V.P. debate – perspective (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Smackdown dropped to a 1.58 rating last night up against the Vice Presidential debate, down from a 1.69 rating last week. Viewership was 2.316 million, which was down from the 2.340 million last week. So while the rating dropped, viewership totals held pretty steady. Ratings since the roster split had been in the 1.70 to 1.95 range from Aug. 16 to Sept. 20.

Keller’s Analysis: This is one of those anomalies because ratings are calculated based on percentage of homes who are watching the show over the course of two hours who have cable TV, and viewership counts the grand total of viewers who tune, even if they do so briefly. So the rating going down, but viewership remaining steady, is indicative of viewers watching for fewer minutes on average than last week.