As expected, viewership for this week's episode of WWE Backstage dropped without CM Punk. While the show featured Triple H discussing NXT's victory at the Survivor Series PPV, it was confirmed in advance that the one-time Best in the World wouldn't be present.
As a result, the show drew 121,000 viewers, a significant drop from the 180,000 viewers it received the week before. On the plus side, this is still way above the 49,000 and 100,000 ratings WWE Backstage drew a few weeks back.
It's no secret that Punk is only signed to appear sporadically on the show and there's currently no word on whether he'll be present next Tuesday. Assuming ratings increase when Punk does return to the show, chances are FOX will be making an effort to have him appear on a more regular basis.