WWE SmackDown airing on FS1 next week due to college football

Due to a college football scheduling conflict, SmackDown is making a one-week shift to FS1 next Friday.

WWE announced tonight that the Friday, December 18 episode of SmackDown will air on FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. That’s due to college football’s Pac-12 Championship Game being scheduled to air on Fox next Friday.

This will be the second SmackDown episode to premiere on FS1 this year and the third time the show has premiered on FS1 since moving to Fox. Both other times were due to scheduling conflicts with the World Series.

Earlier this year, the October 23 episode of SmackDown aired on FS1 due to game three of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays being on Fox. That SmackDown episode averaged 881,000 viewers on FS1. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.25. When SmackDown aired on FS1 due to the World Series the previous year, the episode averaged 888,000 viewers and drew a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demo.

A special edition of Talking Smack also aired immediately on FS1 after that October 23 SmackDown episode earlier this year.

Next week’s SmackDown is the go-home show for WWE’s TLC pay-per-view.