The return of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event this past weekend delivered strong viewership figures, featuring five matches, including the main event where Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes retained his title against Kevin Owens.
The show drew 1.59 million viewers on NBC with a 0.42 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, as reported by Wrestlenomics. It’s important to note the event was also simulcast on Peacock.
These ratings align with what WWE Raw and SmackDown typically draw on the USA Network, despite NBC reaching far more households. While the numbers are down compared to the last SNME special in 2008, which drew 2.35 million viewers, this was largely anticipated due to changes in media consumption over the years.
Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated noted that the combined viewership between NBC and Peacock is estimated to have surpassed 2.3 million viewers.
SNME faced stiff competition on Saturday night, including, NBA Cup Semifinals on ABC, which averaged 1.89 million viewers with a 0.47 rating, and College Football Heisman Trophy Presentation on ESPN, which drew 2.251 million viewers with a 0.62 rating.
The next episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event is scheduled for January 25, 2025, and WWE will look to build on the momentum of this successful return.
I tweeted yesterday that NBC's Saturday Night's Main Event beat ABC's Rockets-Thunder game in the ratings Saturday.
ABC had 1.89 million viewers on linear.
NBC had 1.59 million on linear.If you include streaming on Peacock, SNME's viewership number is more than 2.3 million.
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) December 17, 2024
