Fox Sports will take over the SmackDown Live broadcasts on Oct. 4, but a pending war between WWE and AEW could lead to a ratings problem for the network giant.
WWE announced that they'll be moving NXT to Wednesday nights on USA Network in order to compete with AEW's weekly television program that will also begin in the fall. This is obviously a smart ploy from WWE's standpoint, but it stands to affect SmackDown's - likely in a bad way.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Ringside News), explained that SmackDown might only bring in around two million viewers, since it'll be moved to the Friday night television slot. Not only that, but he explained why fans may not bother tuning in on SmackDown.
"Another thing too is if you go in there before and you have the Monday and Wednesday [now] where let’s say people are watching three hours on Monday and then Wednesday, that’s five hours.
By the time it comes to Friday you want to go out and have fun. So, that may play into it. All these shows may negatively impact [SmackDown]."
Fox's decision to move SmackDown to Friday nights puzzled many, since it's one of the most undesirable time slots for television. There's a popular term in the TV business called the "Friday night death slot," since plenty of shows featured during that time frame tend to get cancelled.
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Now, SmackDown Live obviously isn't going to get cancelled, but it's not crazy to believe that Fox will endure some lackluster ratings in the early going. Of course, that won't be the case if WWE creative gives fans a good reason to tune in on Friday nights.
WWE hired Eric Bischoff to take over as Executive Director for SmackDown Live, hoping he'll be able to rebuild the product while helping the company push forward against AEW. Paul Heyman has the same job title for Monday Night Raw, where he's been for almost two months. Bischoff hasn't fully assumed his new job yet, but once he does, you know the show will undergo some positive changes.
What This Means
As Meltzer pointed out, WWE fans will get to tune in on shows during Monday and Wednesday nights, so they may not feel the need to watch SmackDown on Fridays. But again, it'll simply come down to how good or bad the general product is. If Bischoff can turn it into something spectacular, then fans will have a reason to tune in - and it should secure some strong numbers for Fox.