Tag: raw ratings

WWE Raw ratings up despite going against two NFL games

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Going against two NFL games, but only one on television, Raw last night was up from last week doing 1.58 million viewers and a strong 0.51 in 18-49.

Besides shows related to the NFL, Raw was tied with The Voice as the next highest-rated show in 18-49, but obviously, a cable number being tied with a network number is far more impressive for the cable show.

Raw was fourth for the night on cable behind three NFL-related shows.

The Baltimore Ravens vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game had 15.99 million viewers and a 4.71 in 18-49 which was 7.57 million viewers and 1.91 on ABC, 7.34 million viewers and 2.48 in ESPN and 1.08 million viewers and 0.32 on ESPN 2.

The No. 2 entertainment show on cable last was 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way on TLC which had 628,000 viewers and 0.11 in 18-49.

Raw was up three percent in viewers but up 17 percent in 18-49 from last week.

From one year ago, Raw was up seven percent in viewers and 13 percent in 18-49, but factoring in homes lost over the past year by cable, the real increases are 14 percent in viewers and 25 percent in 18-49.

The hour numbers were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.61 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.55 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings down slightly against NFL & MLB competition

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw on Monday night averaged 1.54 million viewers and drew a 0.44 rating in 18-49, which you’d have to consider a good showing given it was a taped show against both the Major League Baseball playoffs and NFL Monday Night Football.

The New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills NFL game did 17.24 million viewers and a 4.47 in 18-49 between ABC (8.43 million viewers and 1.55), ESPN (7.96 million/2.62) and ESPN2 (857,000/0.30). The New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians baseball playoff game did 3.82 million/0.94 on TBS and 119,000/0.03 on TruTV.

Raw was fifth on cable, behind three NFL-related shows and the baseball game. It beat all shows on network television other than the NFL-related programming.

Raw was down 0.5 percent in viewers from last week, with the taped show, plus last week had a World title match and was coming off a PPV. So it shows that being taped likely meant nothing. It was down seven percent in 18-49 from last week.

From one year ago, also against the NFL and baseball playoff competition, Raw was up four percent in viewers and down one percent in 18-49, but that’s misleading because it was a three-hour show. The first two hours were virtually identical with viewers as last year, but that’s a plus given cable homes have declined.

The No. 2 ranked entertainment show on cable was 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way on TLC that did 784,000 viewers and a 0.13.

The two hours for Raw were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.53 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.55 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings mostly steady despite return to two hours

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The first two-hour Raw in a dozen years on Monday averaged 1.55 million viewers with a 0.47 rating in 18-49.

The number was similar to last week even though it eliminated the lowest rated third hour from the average, and so while it was up a little in viewers and down overall in 18-49 from last week, it’s really an overall down number even coming off a highly anticipated Bad Blood PPV which saw The Rock and Goldberg involved.

Wrestlenomics was the first to report the number. The Kansas City Chiefs vs. New Orleans Saints game that included Taylor Swift shown frequently, did 15.8 million viewers and a 4.34 rating combined between ESPN and ESPN2. That’s a very strong number for a cable game that isn’t also broadcast on ABC. TBS and TruTV aired the New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals playoff game which did a combined 3.48 million viewers and a 0.83 in 18-49.

Raw was up two percent in viewers and down one percent in 18-49 from last week, but in just comparing the two hours, which is the best comparison, it was down one percent in viewers and down five percent in 18-49.

The Gunther vs.  Sami Zayn main event did 1.62 million viewers, far higher than main events had done in the third hour. The high point of the show was the CM Punk interview at 171 million viewers.

It was down one percent in viewers from the same week last year but up 12 percent in 18-49, showing again major changes and a younger audience makeup from one year ago. But it was down four percent in viewers from the first two hours last year, which is a more fair comparison. But homes getting USA Network are down far more than four percent, so it’s still realistically on the positive side.

The two hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.57 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.52 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings up for final three-hour episode on USA

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Raw last night in its final three-hour format on cable television drew 1.52 million viewers and a 0.48 in 18-49, a strong showing against two NFL games.

We don’t have the full chart for last night but the Seattle vs. Detroit NFL game on ABC had 15.03 million viewers and the Miami vs. Tennessee game on ESPN did 5.61 million viewers.

The show was up 13 percent in viewers from last week’s show which did a record low in viewers.  It was up 30 percent in 18-49 from last week.

From Wrestlenomics, the high point of the show was the C.M. Punk vs. Drew McIntyre segment at 1.75 million viewers. The Bronson Reed vs. Braun Strowman last monster standing match in the main event had 1.45 million viewers.

Starting next week, Raw goes to two hours. By eliminating the lower-rated third hour, it will show an increase in viewers. This week’s episode for example, in a two-hour format would be 1.56 million viewers, and likely slightly higher since the lesser stuff that takes the ratings down would be eliminated.

From last year, also going against two games, it was up 0.3 percent in viewers and up two percent in 18-49, but with fewer homes getting cable, the real increase is seven percent in viewers and 12 percent in 18-49 when you factor in a true percentage rating.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.58 million
  • 9 p.m. 1.54 million
  • 10 p.m. 1.43 million

WWE Raw draws lowest ratings of 2024

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Monday’s episode of WWE Raw averaged 1.339 million viewers on USA Network, down 11.3 percent from the previous week.

This is the lowest audience total for the show since the 2023 Christmas night “Best Of” special, and the second lowest Raw has ever done on USA for a live episode, beating only the September 18, 2023 show.

Raw drew a 0.43 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 12.2 percent from last week and ties the lowest rating the show has done in that category since September 2023.

In the demo, Raw only trailed Monday Night Football on cable and was the second highest non-football telecast on all of television, trailing The Voice on NBC. The show went head-to-head with portions of two NFL games for the first time this season. The early game averaged 6.4 million viewers and a 2.0 rating in 18-49 on ESPN while the later game averaged 13.2 million viewers on ABC with a 3.37 rating in 18-49.

The first hour of Raw averaged 1.36 million viewers with a 0.41 rating in 18-49, dropping to 1.329 million viewers in hour two. However, the 18-49 rating rose to a 0.43. The third hour dropped slightly to 1.327 million viewers overall, but had a show-high 0.44 rating in the 18-49 demo. The 2.4 percent audience drop from hour one to hour three is Raw’s best audience retention since the January 1 episode.

As compared to the same week in 2023, Raw’s overall audience was down 8.6 percent while its 18-49 rating was steady.

Listed below are the details for the last 11 weeks of Raw in terms of hour 1-3 viewership, show average, 18-49 rating, and year-over-year results.

WWE Raw ratings up against Monday Night Football

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Raw last night showed an increase from last week and was well above what the show was doing one year ago.

Raw had 1.51 million viewers and 0.49 in 18-49. We don’t have a complete chart, but it was behind ESPN airing the NFL game and the pregame show on ESPN. It was likely behind SportsCenter after the game but we don’t have that number.

The NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons had 15.01 million viewers and a 4.48 in 18-49, which was 13.66 million viewers and 4.01 in 18-49 on ESPN, and 1.34 million and 0.47 in 18-49 on ESPN 2. Last week’s game had 20.43 million viewers and 5.52 in 18-49, but that was a combination of ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2.

Raw was up six percent in viewers, up eight percent in 18-49, and up 30 percent in 18-34. The NFL competition was down 27 percent in viewers, down 19 percent in 18-49, and down in 18-34.

From one year ago, Raw was up 13 percent in viewers, up 13 percent in 18-49, and up 21 percent in 18-34. Those numbers don’t factor in that Raw is available in fewer homes. But it does show the product is far stronger than one year ago, particularly under the age of 35.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.62 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.54 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.37 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings hit hard by return of Monday Night Football

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw last night took a hard hit, as expected, from the first NFL Monday Night Football game of the new season.

The episode averaged 1.43 million viewers and drew a 0.45 rating in 18-49. Both numbers are the lowest Raw has done since going against the NFL playoffs in January.

We don’t have the football number or other numbers from last night, but will have a full and complete rundown in the Observer later.

Raw was down 13 percent in viewers and down eight percent in 18-49 from last week. But that was against major college football.

To show how much football affects the Raw ratings, the episode two weeks ago, the last before football, was 1.80 million viewers and a 0.57 demo rating.

The opening game of the season is usually going to have more effect than most games, but blockbuster games could lead to lower numbers. But the 49ers vs. Jets game likely cost Raw 20 percent in viewers and 20 percent in 18-49. This indicates the current WWE audience has more of a crossover with the NFL than the past when it usually was closer to 10 percent.

The number was still better than last year against the season opening NFL Monday game. It was up five percent in viewers and up 14 percent in 18-49 from the same week last year, and that’s not factoring in homes lost. If you factor that in, the gains from a year ago, it would be up 12 percent in viewers and 20 percent in 18-49.  That’s a better indication of where WWE on USA really stands as compared to a year ago.

WWE Raw ratings down on Labor Day

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Going against college football on Monday night, Raw dropped to 1.65 million viewers and a 0.49 rating in 18-49. The 18-49 number was the lowest since the NBA playoffs.

This will be the start of Raw’s lowest ratings period for the year, which should become more evident next week going against the NFL every Monday night.

We don’t have numbers for competition but the usual college football over Labor Day weekend does hurt Raw noticeably, as it did this year.

Raw was down eight percent in viewers from last week and down 13 percent in 18-49. That can largely be attributed to college football and some to the holiday. This is actually more significant because it also was two days after the PLE event from Berlin, so a normal episode would have shown even more of a drop.
While Labor Day often starts low and then grows in hour two, that wasn’t the case here generally. The peak here was for the Drew McIntyre-CM Punk segment at 9 p.m. (at 1.87 million viewers), while the main event of Damian Priest & Jey Uso vs. JD McDonagh & Finn Balor in a non-title match did 1.49 million viewers.

From one year ago, under similar competition circumstances, Labor Day and college football, Raw was down three percent in viewers and down three percent in 18-49. But given homes lost by cable, in actual ratings as based on homes that actually get USA, this would be up three percent in viewers and up seven percent in 18-49. So from a ratings standpoint, they are still in the plus column from last year.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.77 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.70 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.51 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings up for Bash in Berlin go-home show

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Monday night’s WWE Raw episode averaged 1.796 million viewers on the USA Network, up 9.4 percent from last week. It’s the second-highest viewership total for the show since July 1.

In the 18-49 demo, Raw topped all of television in prime time with a 0.56 rating. That’s nearly 40 percent higher than the top-rated show on network TV and almost triple the highest-rated show on cable. Raw was up 12 percent from last week in the demo, but this ties the third-lowest rating the show has done in that category since June 17.

The show opened with 1.848 million viewers in hour one with a 0.57 rating in 18-49. That climbed to 1.889 million and 0.59 for the second hour and dropped to 1.652 million and 0.53 for the final hour. The 12.5 percent third-hour drop was in the normal range for the show.

As compared to the same week in 2023, Raw’s overall audience was up 7.1 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 9.8 percent. It’s the fourth straight week — and 8th of the last 10 — that the show has had a year-over-year increase in the key demo.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership numbers and 18-49 demo ratings for Raw, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s episode was up 3.8 percent in overall viewers but down 3.4 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE Raw ratings down against Democratic National Convention coverage

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Monday night’s episode of WWE Raw averaged 1.641 million viewers on the USA Network, down 13.2 percent from last week. It’s the lowest audience total the show has done on that network since June 10.

Raw drew a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demo. That tied CNN’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention for the top spot on cable, although the convention aired on several cable and network stations, all head-to-head. Raw’s rating was down 20.6 percent from last week and ties the lowest number the show has done since January 12 when it went against an NFL playoff game.

As compared to the same week in 2023, Raw’s overall viewership was up 3.1 percent while its 18-49 rating was steady.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for Raw, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 5.1 percent in overall viewers and down 13.8 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE Raw draws best ratings in four months

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Monday night’s WWE Raw averaged 1.89 million viewers on the USA Network, up 9.6 percent from last week’s episode that aired on Syfy due to the Olympics. It’s the best audience total for the show since April 8, which was the Raw after WrestleMania.

Raw drew a 0.63 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 1.6 percent from last week and is also the highest rating the show has done in that category since the April 8 episode.

The show had no major sports competition on the night with the Olympics over and the NFL regular season not starting until September.

As compared to the same week in 2023, Raw’s overall audience was up 7.6 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 14.6 percent. It’s the first time since June 28 that the show was up year-over-year in both categories.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for Raw, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 10.7 percent in overall viewers and up 10.5 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE Raw draws impressive ratings for SummerSlam fallout

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw grew greatly from last week for the show last night after SummerSlam, averaging 1.73 million viewers on Syfy and drawing a 0.62 rating in 18-49.

The numbers are very impressive considering the station change and Olympic competition. Generally the episode after SummerSlam does among the largest numbers of the year. This show likely would have topped two million viewers on USA and without Olympic competition and done a 0.70 in 18-49.

Syfy was the No. 1 rated cable network last night, beating USA with the Olympics. While we don’t have other show numbers at this point, it was likely second to only NBC’s Olympics coverage on all of television.

Raw was up 22 percent in viewers and up 21 percent in 18-49 from last week which would be expected for such a show.

It was down nine percent in viewers from last year, which is far less than should be expected year-over-year considering it was on a different station and with the Olympics competition, not even factoring the decline over the past year in cable coverage. It was up three percent in 18-49.

WWE Raw ratings down, hold up well with move to Syfy

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The go-home show for SummerSlam did shockingly well on Syfy with 1.41 million viewers and a 0.51 in 18-49 based on a first report by Pro Wrestling Torch.

That meant about 48 percent of the viewers were between 18 and 49, a number WWE programming almost never gets. While down a little in 18-49, it appears the vast majority of the viewers lost to the Olympics and the move to the new channel were over the age of 50.

Raw was down 21 percent in viewers but down only 13 percent in 18-49 from last week.

The show did open strongly, which is a surprise except that they put C.M. Punk, Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre up at the start of the show. The drop in viewers in hour three, headlined by Gunther vs. Finn Balor, was larger than usual which wouldn’t be due to the station because the viewers were already there, but due to the Olympics.

We don’t have the Olympic numbers on  NBC or USA at press time.

Comparisons with a normal week on the regular channel last year are basically meaningless, but it would be down 20 percent in viewers but only down three percent in 18-49. When you consider how many 18-49 homes have cable this year vs. last year, and the competition, that’s incredible how little it declined and by actual real ratings based on total audience, it was actually up six percent from one year ago.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.53 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.46 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.24 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings bounce up with no Home Run Derby competition

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Raw last night did 1.79 million viewers with an 0.59 in 18-49, bouncing back from last week’s number that was hurt by the Home Run Derby.

Full chart placements and competition shows are not available.

The show was built around the finalization of Drew McIntyre vs. C.M. Punk as a SummerSlam match as well as a several segment storyline with Dominik Mysterio, Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley. The main event saw Jey Uso & Sami Zayn win a non-title match over tag champs Finn Balor & JD McDonagh.

It was up six percent in viewers and six percent in 18-49 from last week, which is about how much one would expect Home Run Derby to cost the show.

It was down one percent in viewers but up two percent in 18-49 from last year, but that doesn’t factor in the loss of cable homes and viewers so the realistic percentage ratings drop would be up five percent in viewers and up 14 percent in 18-49, once again showing the pattern of down over 50 and up over 50 that Raw has had over the past year.

WWE Raw ratings down against Home Run Derby

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw last night, going against the MLB Home Run Derby, averaged 1.67 million viewers and drew a 0.56 rating in 18-49.

The numbers are lower than have been usual in recent weeks, as was to be expected. Home Run Derby most years takes a bite out of the Raw numbers.

We don’t have details on ratings other than Raw at this point, including that of Home Run Derby which figured to be the top show on television in 18-49 last night.

Raw was down five percent in viewers and down four percent in 18-49 from last week’s episode, which also did lower-than-usual numbers due to the DVR snafu that affected a number of key systems including Dish and DirecTV. The drop is a little less than Raw usually experiences against Home Run Derby but last week was artificially low, and this week was also boosted by the return of Rhea Ripley with multiple segments.

Raw was down from last year in numbers, but Home Run Derby was a week earlier last year. For comparisons with the show against Home Run Derby last year, Raw was down eight percent in viewers but up two percent in 18-49. Factoring in that USA Network is in fewer homes this year and when it comes to actual percentages of available viewers, it would still be down two percent in viewers but up 12 percent in 18-49, and when it comes to television as a whole it’s well ahead of the pace of the rest of cable.

This will be updated when more information is available on competition.