7/19 Live Smackdown/WWE Draft Social Media activity – Surge to near-WrestleMania level

With 59 WWE Draft picks to comment on, the new Raw and Smackdown rosters to evaluate, and the Live Smackdown premiere to discuss on Tuesday night, there was a huge surge in social media activity for Smackdown.

WWE Smackdown Social Media Tracking

July 19: Smackdown registered social media activity just below the level of post-WrestleMania Raw, according to Nielsen’s Twitter TV Ratings.

Smackdown generated 279,000 tweets from 49,000 unique authors, for a rate of 5.7 tweets per person.

By comparison, last week’s final Thursday Night Smackdown airing drew 42,000 tweets from 16,000 unique authors for a rate of 2.6 tweets per person.

Overall on the night, Smackdown ranked #2 in social media activity behind TV-wide coverage of the Republican National Convention.

– Going back one night to Monday’s Raw leading into the Draft, the July 18 Raw generated 176,000 tweets from 45,000 unique authors.

So, the number of people tweeting about Raw and Smackdown was very close, but Smackdown generated 100,000 more tweets.

Once the dust settles from the Draft and Battleground, the real comparisons can begin with live Raws and Smackdowns side-by-side on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

2016’s Top 5 WWE Social Media Shows (non-PPV)

• Feb. 8 – D-Bryan Retirement: 343,000 tweets / 83,000 uniques
• Apr. 4 – Post-Mania Raw: 316,000 tweets / 56,000 uniques
• Feb. 22 – Shane McMahon Return: 286,000 tweets / 64,000 uniques
• Jul. 19 – Draft/Live SD Premiere: 279,000 tweets / 49,000 uniques
• Jan. 25 – Post-Rumble Raw: 243,000 tweets / 54,000 uniques