Tag: raw ratings

WWE Raw ratings down slightly, still first in demo

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Raw on Monday night did lower than it has been doing on a night with limited competition, but was still No. 1 on all of television.

Raw did 1.75 million viewers with an 0.59 in 18-49, for a show coming off the Money in the Bank PPV. It got no bump from the show even with all the media reports about John Cena over the weekend.

Raw was first on cable by a wide margin with Hannity on Fox News in second place at 3.56 million viewers and 0.21. The top entertainment show on television other than Raw was a Shark week special on Great White Serial Killer sharks at 636,000 viewers and 0.21 in 18-49 on Discovery.

Raw was down seven percent in viewers and down six percent in 18-49 from last week’s show.

From one year ago this week, when Raw went head-to-head with Home Run Derby, it was still down three percent in viewers but up six percent in 18-49. But when you factor in homes lost, the real gains would be up three percent in viewers and up 16 percent in 18-49.

The show did a normal  ratings pattern with the exception of the Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega vs. Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan match which featured the return of Rhea Ripley, which did 1.70 million viewers, a much higher number as compared with a normal full show rating.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.85 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.78 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.62 million viewers

WWE Raw draws best ratings since night after WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw last night did its best numbers since the show the day after WrestleMania with 1.88 million viewers and a 0.62 rating in 18-49.

It appears to be a combination of angles clicking right now, with the Liv Morgan/Dominik Mysterio, Wyatt Sicks angle, and Morgan disrupting Judgment Day and leading to issues with Finn Balor and Damian Priest.

Based on YouTube views from the show, the top two off the episode involved Morgan, Dominik Mysterio, and Judgment Day.

The show was up four percent in viewers and two percent in 18-49 from last week.

We don’t have a full chart on what other shows did last night at this moment.

From one year ago this week, viewers are up three percent but 18-49 is up 29 percent, which basically shows that the over 50 audience has gone way down from a year ago, but the under 50 audience, which  is the most important when it comes to selling tickets and merchandise, is way up.

WWE Raw does best ratings since post-WrestleMania 40 episode

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Week two of the  Wyatt Sicks storyline followed Smackdown doing its highest ratings since April, with Raw doing the same.

Last night’s show did 1.81 million viewers with an 0.61 in 18-49.  Those are the best numbers for the show since the day after WrestleMania.  Pro Wrestling Torch first reported this number as other ratings sources don’t have the numbers at this point.

The number would be considered excellent going against Game Seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs on ABC.  We will update with the other competing numbers when available as well as with the hourly figures.

The show was headlined by Finn  Balor & JD McDonagh beating Miz & R-Truth to win the tag titles.  But that wouldn’t be a reason for a big increase.

Looking at YouTube numbers to get the best idea of what segments would have been responsible, the biggest numbers at press time are 714,000 for the Bo  Dallas/Uncle Howdy interview segment and 552,000 for one of the Liv Morgan/Dominik Mysterio segments.  Another factor is likely follow-up of the C.M. Punk-Drew McIntyre angle from Smackdown.

It was up four percent in viewers and 11 percent in 18-49 from last week’s show,  which had competition from the NBA playoffs final game.  In theory, with playoffs over, the numbers should be at a high point until the Olympics start next month.

The viewer number is actually down eight percent from one year ago when an episode of Raw did 1.98 million viewers and 0.61 in 18-49 for a show headlined by Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest.  Staying even in 18-49 from a year ago would be considered very strong in the current environment but all WWE programming has been showing increases with younger viewers, especially men, in recent months while the declines in over 50 date back to post-SummerSlam last year.

WWE Raw ratings up despite NBA Finals competition

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw last night averaged 1.75 million viewers and drew a 0.55 rating in 18-49 going against the final game of the NBA playoffs.

The number was strong given the opposition, likely a combination of the post-PPV bump that Raw will generally get, and the payoff of the Wyatt Sicks angle that they had been building up for a long time.

Judging from the strong first hour, it would lead to curiosity off the PPV, but hour three was stronger than it has been of late.

Raw was the No. 1 show on cable in 18-49 and beat everything on television in the demo except shows related to the NBA finals. The game itself did 12.22 million viewers and a 3.65 rating in 18-49.

Raw was up nine percent in viewers from last week even with far stronger competition, and up 10 percent in 18-49.

NBC had the Olympic trials head-to-head with two shows, the first hour plus doing 3.15 million viewers and a 0.41, and the last 45 minutes did 2.67 million viewers and a 0.35.

ESPN had the College Baseball World Series which did 1.49 million viewers and a 0.26 in 18-49. The highest rated entertainment show on cable against Raw was Below Deck with 741,000 viewers and 0.15.

Raw was down from last year, but that show didn’t go against the NBA playoffs. It was down four percent in viewers and down 3,000 viewers in 18-49. When you factor in the NBA playoff opposition and the decline in cable homes, both of those numbers should be seen as a major positive even though they look like a negative.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.86 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.73 million viewers
  • 10 pm. 1.65 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings down against Stanley Cup Finals

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Raw last night going against the Stanley Cup finals did 1.61 million viewers and an 0.50 in 18-49.

The 18-49 was the lowest number since football season ended. The hockey game on ABC did 3.56 million viewers and a 0.95 in 18-49.

Raw beat everything on television but the game last night, beating all network programming and finishing first by a wide margin on cable. Second place was college baseball on ESPN at 1.18 million viewers and a 0.25, while the top entertainment show was Below Deck Mediterranean on Bravo at 886,000 viewers and a 0.17 in 18-49.

Raw started much lower than usual, peaking at 9 p.m. and didn’t have the usual big third hour drop, although it had some drop with the Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor main event having 1.47 million viewers.

Raw was down four percent in viewers from last week and down six percent in 18-49.  

The show one year ago was against the deciding game of the NBA playoffs. Compared to last year, the show was up one percent in viewers and up ten percent in 18-49.  

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.63 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.68 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.52 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings down slightly

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Monday night’s episode of WWE Raw averaged 1.679 million viewers on the USA Network, down 0.7 percent from last week’s Memorial Day episode. It’s the lowest audience total for the show since May 13.

Raw drew a 0.53 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 3.6 percent from last week and is also Raw’s lowest rating in that category since the May 13 episode.

There was no major sports competition on the night with both the NBA and NHL playoffs waiting to start their finals later this week.

As compared to the same week in 2023, Raw’s overall viewership was down 8.2 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 5.4 percent. It’s the sixth week of the last eight (and 10th of the last 13) where Raw has had a year-over-year decline in overall viewers.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for Raw, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s episode was down 4.6 percent in viewers and down 8.6 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

WWE Raw ratings hold up well on Memorial Day

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw on Monday night averaged 1.69 million viewers and drew a 0.55 rating in 18-49.

The numbers were likely helped by interest coming off King & Queen of the Ring, as they were in line with last week but against far tougher competition this time. The show went against Boston trying and succeeding in clinching the NBA Eastern Conference title over Indiana, as well as a Dallas vs. Edmonton NHL playoff game.

Numbers for the games and chart positions were unavailable at press time due to holidays delaying things.

Raw had a Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch steel cage match for the Women’s World Championship in the main event position.

Raw was down two percent in viewers and down two percent in 18-49 from last week, which didn’t have NBA opposition.

Memorial Day has traditionally been a difficult day for WWE to draw.

Raw was up five percent in viewers and up six percent in 18-49 from last year’s Memorial Day episode.  It should be noted that last year’s show went against an NBA conference final game that did 12 million viewers and a 4.24 in 18-49.

WWE Raw ratings up with no NBA competition

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

With no NBA competition, Raw was up to 1.74 million viewers last night and an 0.56 in 18-49.

It was the best numbers the show has done in five weeks, which coincides with the tougher competition.

Raw was second for the night behind the Vancouver vs. Edmonton NHL game on ESPN that did 1.66 million viewers and 0.58.  Prior to the NHL game was a WNBA game with Caitlan Clark that did 1.56 million viewers and 0.42.

The show was up nine percent in viewers and up six percent in 18-49 from last week.

Compared to last year, Raw was up six percent in viewers and five percent in 18-49, although Raw was head-to-head last year with an NBA game with the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets that did 8.21 million viewers and a 2.83 in 18-49.

Raw will be facing NBA playoff competition this coming Monday. In theory it should get a boost coming off the King & Queen of the Ring event. It is the last Monday that there is an NBA playoff game scheduled, so Raw’s numbers should be stronger until the Olympics.

WWE Raw ratings down slightly against NBA & NHL playoffs

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE Raw last night did its lowest total audience number since the end of football season, but held up well in 18-49 against both the NBA and NHL playoffs.

Raw averaged 1.59 million viewers and did an 0.53 in 18-49.

The main competition was the NBA.  The Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers  game on TNT and Tru against the first 90 minutes of the show, did 3.24 million viewers and 1.01 in 18-49 on TNT and 853,000 viewers and 0.39 on Tru.  The Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks game did 3.64 million viewers and 1.30 in 18-49 on TNT and 700,000 viewers and 0.34 on Tru.  The NHL conference semifinal with Carolina vs. New York Rangers on ESPN did 1.83 million viewers and 0.59 in 18-49

Raw was fourth for the night on cable, trailing the three games.  Raw also beat every network show for the night in 18-49.

The show was down two percent in viewers from last week and down one percent in 18-49.

Raw was 22nd for the night in total viewers, trailing the three games  and 18 news shows.

The show started with a lower audience than usual, but didn’t fall as hard in hour three as it did last week.  The show was hurt by no Cody Rhodes or C.M. Punk, who had been the two biggest draws on the show other than The Rock.

Gunther vs. Ilja Dragunov headlined the third hour.

From one year ago, the show was down seven percent in viewers, but last year on this week there was no NBA competition.  In 18-49, it was down eight percent, unusual that 18-49 was down  more than total viewers, but that’s entirely due to the NBA.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.64 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.64 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.48 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings down for Backlash fallout episode

Posted on by Dave Meltzer
Raw on Monday night averaged 1.62 million viewers with a 0.53 rating in 18-49 against strong NBA and NHL playoff competition.

Raw traditionally shows noticeable increases after a PPV but that wasn’t the case this week as it was down, while both the NBA and NHL showed increases.

We don’t have the full chart at press time but Raw would have been neck-and-neck with the Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers NHL game on ESPN that did 1.85 million viewers and a 0.53 demo rating. The New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers NBA game against the first two hours of Raw did 4.25 million viewers and a 1.44 on TNT and 513,000/0.17 on TruTV. The Denver vs. Minnesota game against hour three did 4.06 million viewers and a 1.47 in 18-49 on TNT and 609,000 and a 0.22 on Tru.

Raw was either third or fourth for the night in 18-49.

It was down four percent in viewers and down three percent in 18-49 from last week’s draft episode.

The show had a larger drop during the show as compared to most episodes in recent weeks with the main event of Gunther vs. Sheamus.

From one year ago, Raw was down nine percent in viewers but up four percent in 18-49, once again showing an increase in younger viewers and decrease with people over 50, which has been the pattern since August.

For a comparison, the NBA was down 22 percent in 18-49 from the same Monday last year while the NHL was up 36 percent.

Factoring in homes that no longer have the USA Network, it would really be a four percent drop in viewers for Raw and a 15 percent gain in 18-49.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.71 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.69 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.46 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings up for draft episode

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The Raw draft episode against strong competition held up better in the ratings than SmackDown did, averaging 1.69 million viewers and drawing a 0.55 rating in 18-49.

Raw was fourth on cable for the night, beating everything but the NBA on TNT. The Celtics vs. Heat game against the first two hours did 2.69 million viewers and a 0.83 in 18-49 on TNT. The Lakers-Nuggets game against hour three did 3.96 million viewers and a 1.30 and another 568,000 viewers and 0.23 on TruTV. Inside the NBA also beat Raw, although it was on after Raw, with Raw being second in the time slot.

Tampa Bay vs. Florida in the NHL playoffs did 1.22 million viewers and a 0.41 against the first two hours. Hour three went against the Dallas vs. Las Vegas game that did 988,000 viewers and a 0.35.

The NBA and NHL numbers were way down from last year on the same week, with the NBA down 34 percent and NHL down 57 percent from the same Monday last year against the WWE Draft.

Raw was up five percent in viewers and five percent in 18-49 from last week. The high points of the show were the two segments involving CM Punk and Drew McIntyre.

Even though the competition was much stronger last year, Raw was down five percent in viewers and up three percent in 18-49 from the same week last year.

The show grew strongly in hour two, and hour three, while falling, even against the Lakers game, wasn’t far behind hour one.

Raw beat every show on network television. Below Deck on Bravo at 0.19 was the second-highest rated entertainment show.

For total viewers for the night, Raw was 14th behind three NBA-related shows and 10 news shows.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.68 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.75 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.62 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings down against heavy sports competition

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Against major competition from both the NBA and NHL playoffs, Raw fell to 1.60 million viewers and an 0.52 in 18-49 last night.

Raw went against the Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks game for two hours plus which did 2.95 million viewers and an 0.95 demo rating on TNT and 524,000 viewers and 0.22 on TruTV, and the third hour went against the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets game that did 3,615,000 viewers and 1.24 in 18-49 on TNT and 636,000 and 0.28 on TruTV. The Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game on NBA TV did 381,000 viewers and an 0.13 in 18-49.

Raw was third for the night behind the two TNT games and second behind TNT, which aired the games, in the time slot.

ESPN aired Stanley Cup playoff hockey with Toronto vs. Boston in the early game doing 1,132,000 viewers and a 0.35 in 18-49, and hour three went against Las Vegas vs. Dallas which did 777,000 viewers and 0.28. In addition, a New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes game on ESPN2 did 556,000 viewers and 0.19.

The show started low and didn’t decline much in hour three, built around a battle royal, won by Becky Lynch, for the Women’s World Championship that Rhea Ripley vacated due to injury.

Raw was down 12 percent in viewers and down 14 percent in 18-49 from last week, with the difference being no Cody Rhodes this week and the much harder competition.

As compared to one year ago, against similar competition, Raw was down 12 percent in viewers and down five percent in 18-49. It has been very rare for WWE programming to be down from last year in 18-49, because the audience has grown so much younger over the past year. The audience should bounce back next week with the WWE Draft show.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.61 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.64 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.54 million viewers

WWE Raw ratings down, still beats huge WNBA Draft number

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Raw on Monday night against the strong competition of the WNBA Draft, took first place on cable with 1.81 million viewers and a 0.61 rating in 18-49.

The WNBA Draft due to Caitlin Clark, even though it was preordained she was being picked first, did 2.45 million viewers and a 0.58 demo rating. To show how crazy this was, that was more than WNBA championship series games do.

Raw’s ratings were down from recent weeks. The usual pattern is a giant number the Monday after Mania and a strong number the week after, and then it goes back to regular levels before dropping as the NBA playoffs go deeper. This year will probably get a pick-up on April 29 with the WWE Draft episode.

Raw also beat every show on network TV. The leading entertainment competition on cable 90 Day Single Life, did 1.07 million viewers and a 0.17. The NHL game on ESPN after the big lead-in from the draft did 439,000 viewers and 0.14.

Raw was down 23 percent in viewers and down 27 percent in 18-49 from last week’s episode the day after WrestleMania. It’s a drop that should be expected given how big last week did.

Raw was 12th in total viewers behind the WNBA Draft and 10 news shows.

The show had its usual ratings pattern.

From one year ago, it was down 0.4 percent in viewers but up seven percent in 18-49, once again showing how much younger the audience was from last year.

Factoring in homes without access this year to USA Network, the real comparison figures would be up five percent in viewers and up 17 percent in 18-49.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 1.93 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.82 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.68 million viewers

Wrestling Observer Radio: CM Punk vs. Jack Perry footage, Dynamite, death of Akebono, more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the AEW airing of the CM Punk vs. Jack Perry footage, tons of thoughts on the angle and the show itself, the death of Akebono, huge ratings for WWE, NXT, Rampage and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: AEW airs the CM Punk/Jack Perry altercation

22:05: Akebono passes away

35:16: Osamu Nishimura battling cancer for a second time

36:44: Ratings

44:33: AEW Dynamite recap

1:06:57: WWE NXT notes

1:18:39: AEW Rampage spoilers

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WWE Raw draws incredible ratings after WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Last night’s Raw after WrestleMania featuring the long Rock-Cody Rhodes promo battle ended up as the most viewed episode of the show in more than four years, and the highest 18-49 number in even longer.

Even with competition from the UConn vs. Purdue NCAA men’s basketball championship game against much of hour two and all of hour three, Raw averaged 2.36 million viewers and drew an incredible 0.83 rating in 18-49.

The 18-49 number was Raw’s largest since September 30, 2019, at a time when television was completely different.

The peak, based on data from Wrestlenomics, was the second and third quarters with the Rock-Rhodes promo that did 2.95 million viewers and 1.04 in 18-49 in quarter two, and peaked in quarter three at 3.19 million viewers and 1.11 in 18-49.

The basketball game aired on TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and the combined audience was 14.82 million viewers and a 3.88 in 18-49.

This will likely be the largest Raw audience of the year. It was up 32 percent in viewers from last week and up 40 percent in 18-49, meaning the audience ballooned more with younger viewers.

The show was way above normal across the board, but the third hour was less incredible against the game as far as being way above normal. Still, the 1.87 million for the Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso vs. Ricochet vs. Bronson Reed main event would be the largest of the year by a good level.

It was up five percent in viewers and up 10 percent in 18-49 from the Raw after WrestleMania show last year, again showing more strength with the younger audience.

The three hours were:

  • 8 p.m. 2.86 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 2.31 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.92 million viewers