Smackdown Rating: Has John Cena’s move to Raw already affected SD ratings? How is 2017 comparing to 2016? (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Smackdown this Tuesday night on USA Network registered a 1.74 rating among live and same-night-DVR viewers, way down from the post-Summerslam 1.89 rating the prior week. It’s also well below the year-ago rating of 1.95. It’s in line with the 2017 average, which was 1.76 headed into this week, and the ten-week rolling average which was 1.71 headed into this week.

Keller’s Analysis: With Smackdown’s ratings relative to year-ago-same-week ratings, taking a substantial dive since Jinder Mahal became no. 1 contender and a centerpiece heel of the show, I’m curious to see what happens with John Cena now absent again. Cena’s post-WrestleMania hiatus also coincided with a drop in Smackdown ratings, and now that he’s gone again, do things become even worse for the Blue Brand led by Brian James (“Road Dogg”) or does it hold up okay, especially with Monday Night Raw about to face competition from NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN on Monday nights. The 2016 average through this week was 1.73 compared to 1.76 for 2017 this far. Before Jinder Mahal’s push to being a top heel and in the WWE Title picture, Smackdown’s average rating this year was 1.87 compared to 1.76 through that week in 2016. So the lead for SD prior to Jinder for 2017 vs. 2016 was 0.11. Now it’s down to 0.02.