Next week’s episode of WWE SmackDown (October 23) will be moved from FOX to FS1 due to a conflict with baseball’s World Series.
Due to game three of the World Series between The Tampa Bay Rays and The Houston Astros airing on Friday night on FOX, for one week only, the blue brand will instead air on FS1, in the usual 8pm-10pm (Eastern time) slot.
This is not the first time SmackDown has been moved to FS1 because of the World Series. Last year, shortly after the move to FOX, the show was relegated to FS1 where it pulled 888,000 viewers, down significantly from the 2.5 million plus numbers it was pulling on FOX.
Inevitably the number will drop significantly again next week, but little should be read into that as the station change will obviously be the overriding factor in any drop that occurs.
SmackDown is not the only wrestling showing that will be affected by the World Series, with game two going head to head with AEW Dynamite and NXT on Wednesday, which is likely to have an impact on the ratings for both shows.
If the series goes to a seventh game then the follow week’s episodes of Dynamite and NXT will also go head to head with it, which would theoretically have an even biggest impact.