Tag: raw ratings

Raw on Monday night averaged 1.78 million viewers and drew a 0.59 rating in the 18-49 demo for a show built around The Rock and Roman Reigns.

Raw was fourth for the night on cable behind two NCAA Elite Eight women’s college basketball tournament games and the pre-game show.

The reason for the low number was due to women’s college basketball on ESPN. The Iowa vs. LSU game built around Caitlin Clark, against the first 90 minutes of Raw, did 12.30 million viewers with a 3.08 in 18-49, which is at the level of an NFL game.

Even with the decline in cable, this was the highest number in the history of women’s college basketball, and with Iowa winning the game, a similar if not better number would be expected on Friday night for their upcoming game against Connecticut. Fortunately for WWE, that game doesn’t start until 9:30 p.m., but there is a South Carolina vs. North Carolina State Final Four game going against most of SmackDown.

Raw, due to going commercial-free in the first hour and having Rock, Reigns, Seth Rollins, and the Bloodline in a long segment, actually did a strong first hour with 1.95 million viewers and a 0.65 rating in 18-49.

Because the first hour number was helped so much by The Rock and Reigns and being commercial-free, the show dropped over the next two hours with a 16 percent first to third hour drop, much larger than usual. Even though both Rock and Reigns appeared in the post-match angle in the Seth Rollins vs. Solo Sikoa main event, not enough of the audience knew it.

The last 90 minutes went against the Connecticut vs. USC game that did 6.72 million and a 1.81.

Raw was up three percent in viewership from last week, which also went against Iowa women’s basketball, as well as up four percent in 18-49.

From one year ago the comparison looks bad because WrestleMania was a week earlier, so Raw was down 21 percent in viewers and down 22 percent in 18-49. Even factoring in homes lost by cable, the drop would be 17 percent in viewers and down 14 percent in 18-49. But next week’s Raw after Mania will be way up from the show last year.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.95 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.64 million viewers

Update:

WWE Raw did a 0.57 in the 18-49 demo on Monday, not 0.60 as had originally been reported.

Original:

We only have sketchy ratings info at this point from last night, but Raw averaged 1.73 million viewers and did a strong 0.60 (Editor’s update: Dave Meltzer has confirmed the rating was a 0.57, not 0.60) in 18-49 for a show that featured both The Rock and CM Punk.

PWTorch was the first to report these numbers.

The number of total viewers is normal based on recent weeks, which would be a disappointment on a normal night based on the appearances of the two. But given the competition, it’s best to call it good. The 18-49 number would be considered very strong. The viewing audience was far younger than usual for the show.

The key is that The Bachelor on ABC had 4.14 million viewers and a 0.80 rating in 18-49, much higher than usual in the key demo. But the real competition was ESPN’s coverage of Iowa vs. West Virginia in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, which had 4.90 million viewers. We don’t have an 18-49 number at this moment. But it was the third largest viewing audience for a women’s NCAA tournament game in the past 20 years, and the largest ever this early in the tournament. To do that in a period when fewer homes have cable is even more impressive.

Women’s basketball interest this season has been way up. Caitlin Clark is a major star, and every game she is in before elimination is expected to set records. Given that competition, a normal Raw probably would have taken it on the chin.

Raw was up two percent in viewers from last week’s normal show that had lesser competition. The rating in 18-49 was also up from last week (which drew a 0.55).

As compared to this point in 2023, when Raw also went against lesser competition, Raw had a 12 percent year-over-year decline in viewers but an increase of seven percent in 18-49, again showing major losses with people over 50 but gains with those under 50.

If you factor in the losses of homes by cable, a fair comparison with last year would be down one percent in viewers and up 18 percent in 18-49.

The hour figures were:

• 8 p.m.: 1.76 million viewers
• 9 p.m.: 1.83 million viewers
• 10 p.m.: 1.60 million viewers

Raw on Monday pulled its biggest 18-49 demo number since the episode after Survivor Series.

With the show headlined by Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre and Gunther vs. Jey Uso for the IC title, Monday’s Raw averaged 1.87 million viewers with a 0.63 rating in 18-49 and a huge 0.51 rating in 18-34, which is where the major change from usual was.

Raw was first for the night on cable. It beat everything on television except the first half hour went head-to-head with the post-show for the Daytona 500 on Fox that did a 0.67 rating in 18-49, and an 0.63 on cable is far better than a 0.67 on network.

Raw was up seven percent in viewers from last week, up 13 percent in 18-49, and up 24 percent in 18-34.

The big competition was college basketball on ESPN which did 643,000 viewers and a 0.19 for the early game and 1,002,000 viewers and a 0.36 for the later game. There was also a NASCAR Xfinity series race on FS1 that did 933,000 viewers and a 0.14 in 18-49.

From one year ago, which was the episode after last year’s Elimination Chamber, Raw was down seven percent in viewers but up 14 percent in 18-49 and up 24 percent in 18-34. Factoring in the losses of homes by cable, the real percentage change figures based on homes available would be down two percent in viewers, but up 25 percent in 18-34 and up 36 percent in 18-34.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.97 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.90 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.75 million viewers

The unannounced return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and a hyped Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre World title match led to Raw averaging 1.75 million viewers on Monday night with a 0.60 rating in 18-49, the best marks since the episode where CM Punk returned.

The competition was far tougher with the college football playoff semifinals, as the Michigan vs. Alabama Rose Bowl game did 27.2 million viewers and peaked at 32.8 million, a period against the early part of Raw. The Washington vs. Texas Sugar Bowl game, the other playoff semifinal, going against the last two hours, including The Rock’s appearance, did 18.4 million viewers.

It was the first week without NFL football against Raw, although the Rose Bowl game did better than NFL games would do in the first hour. The Sugar Bowl game did a number along the lines of what the NFL had been doing.

The number would have been higher had Johnson been advertised, as the only tease was a former WWE champion returning and there wasn’t much talk about it being Rock until a photo tease that showed Rock at the Rose Bowl with Nick Khan.

Raw was up 12 percent from the show two weeks ago (last week was a best of show), but up 27 percent in 18-49 and up 17 percent in 18-34.

From one year ago, the audience was up nine percent in viewers, but up 48 percent in 18-49 and up 58 percent in 18-34, showing again that Raw is delivering far more younger viewers than it was one year ago, but that people over 50 have remained way down since August.

Raw’s first hour number was actually down from the show two weeks ago, but the second hour after the Rose Bowl ended increased greatly.

The Johnson segment did 2.15 million viewers and a 0.79 rating in 18-49. The show dropped greatly from that point but did pick back up for the Rollins vs. McIntyre main event. The main event was way up from the first quarter and that’s almost unheard of.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.62 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.86 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.77 million viewers

Monday night’s episode of WWE Raw averaged 1.562 million viewers on the USA Network, up 6.5 percent from last week. It’s the largest audience total for the show since November 27 and is the second-largest viewership Raw has drawn against this season of Monday Night Football.

Raw drew a 0.47 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 2.2 percent from last week but is the second-lowest rating the show has done since November 13.

Raw averaged 1.639 million viewers and a 0.49 rating in hour one. That fell slightly to 1.629 million and a 0.48 in the second hour, then there was a larger drop to 1.419 million and 0.46 in the final hour.

As compared to the same week in 2022, Raw’s overall audience was down 8.4 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 9.3 percent, so the audience continues to skew much younger. It’s the 21st week out of the last 22 that Raw’s year-over-year audience was down, but it’s the ninth straight week the 18-49 rating has been up year-over-year. 

This was the last new Raw episode of 2023. Next week’s Christmas night edition of Raw is expected to be a best-of episode.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Raw, as well as the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was up 2.5 percent in overall viewers but down 2.1 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Monday night’s episode of WWE Raw averaged 1.466 million viewers on the USA Network, down 4.4 percent from last week. It’s the lowest audience total for the show since November 17.

There were two Monday Night Football games airing head-to-head with Raw, which likely cost the show a lot of viewers. The ABC game between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers averaged 11.4 million viewers while the ESPN game featuring the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins averaged 7.3 million. Another 940,000 viewers watched the ManningCast on ESPN2 that went back-and-forth between the two games.

Raw drew a 0.46 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 6.1 percent from last week and the show’s lowest rating in that category since November 10.

The advertisement of a CM Punk appearance with him choosing which brand he would sign with likely kept this show from doing near record lows in both total viewers and 18-49.

As compared to the same week in 2022, Raw’s overall viewership was down 0.4 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 24.3 percent. It’s the eighth straight week the show has had a year-over-year increase in the key demo. The overall viewership has been down year-over-year 20 of the last 21 weeks, so the audience is skewing much younger in 2023.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Raw, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was down 4.1 percent in overall viewers and down 4.2 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Raw fell back to normal range after last week’s CM Punk and Randy Orton return episode, averaging 1.53 million viewers on Monday night and drawing a 0.49 rating in 18-49. It’s still tied for Raw’s second best 18-49 number this football season.

The Cincinnati Bengals vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game head-to-head did 16.45 million viewers and a 3.91 in 18-49. The game did 8.87 million and a 1.48 in 18-49 on ABC, 6.61 million and a 2.11 in 18-49 on ESPN, and 964,000 and a 0.32 on ESPN2.

Raw also went head-to-head and beat two NBA In Season Tournament games on TNT, with the Celtics vs. Pacers game doing 1.02 million viewers and a 0.36 in 18-49 and the Pelicans vs Kings against hour three doing 718,000 and a 0.27 in 18-49.

Raw was fifth on cable for the night, behind four shows on ESPN, and USA was behind only ESPN for the night.

Raw was going to be down from last week and was going to still be ahead of normal. The number was likely helped by people expecting Orton or Punk on the show even though neither were advertised.

Raw was down 19 percent in viewers from last week, down 26 percent in 18-49, and down 20 percent in 18-34.

From one year ago, viewers were down 3,000 but 18-49 was up 19 percent and 18-34 was up 55 percent, so the audience has changed greatly, a huge drop with people over 50 but increases with younger viewers. Factoring in the losses of cable homes, the real comparison would be up five percent in viewers, up 31 percent in 18-49, and up 71 percent in 18-34.

The return of C.M. Punk and Randy Orton to Raw on Monday was largely expected to lead to monster ratings, and it had the most viewers since the Raw after SummerSlam and highest 18-49 number since the Raw after WrestleMania.

The 1,884,000 viewers on average was about 400,000 higher than recent shows against the NFL and the 0.65 18-49 rating was up even more significantly from the numbers against the NFL season.

At press time we don’t have the NFL number, but the Vikings-Bears game was expected to be way down from the prior week. We also don’t have Raw’s rankings in the standing but Raw obviously beat everything on cable except NFL related programming. The growth was biggest with men 18-34 at 45 percent.

The show was up 29 percent in ratings from last week, up 35 percent in 18-49 and up 44 percent in 18-34.

Even though Punk was the key reason for the ratings increase, and his segment grew 117,000 viewers from the prior segment in total viewers but 128,000 in 18-49 meaning essentially older viewers actually tuned out more than in but 18-49 viewers came back for that final segment.

The show had the usual ratings pattern of declines so Punk didn’t change the pattern or have near the high point, but these days the main event being the high point is extremely rare. It was clearly Orton’s return that was also a major factor. The Orton segment that opened the show did a show high 2.06 million viewers and an 0.73. The Punk promo in the worse position of ending the show did 1.77 milln and 0.66. If the spots were switched, most likely Punk at first would have done as big or bigger, and Orton last would not have done as well. Orton vs. Dominik Mysterio was actually the low point of the show.

From one year ago, the show was up 14 percent in viewers, up 61 percent in 18-49 and up 65 percent in 18-34. Those comparisons are even more impressive when you consider the homes that have dropped USA over the past year.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 2.00 million
• 9 p.m. 1.89 million
• 10 p.m. 1.77 million

In an amazing stat, Raw, going against the most-watched football game of the season and the most-watched Monday night game in 27 years, pulled out its largest 18-49 rating since this year’s football started.

Raw averaged 1.46 million viewers with a 0.49 rating in 18-49. The viewership number was down 8,000 from last week, which in and of itself would be considered a significant win, but the 18-49 number had major increases of male viewers.

The Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rematch was expected to do major numbers. The 28.96 million viewers on television alone, not including streaming, consisted of 15.55 million on ABC, 11.49 million on ESPN, and 1.92 million on ESPN2. The 18-49 numbers are not available at press time.

Raw was down one percent in viewers but up 12 percent in 18-49 and up nine percent in 18-34 from last week.

The key was that Raw started out strong in the first hour and dropped, but even in the third hour the 18-49 audience never fell below a 0.45.

It was down 11 percent in viewers from last year, but up 19 percent in 18-49 and up 16 percent in 18-34.

The Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso main event for the man advantage in War Games did 1.34 million viewers in the final quarter.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.62 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.44 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.32 million viewers

Raw last night averaged 1.47 million viewers and drew a 0.44 rating in 18-49, down from the prior week largely because football pulled stronger numbers this week.

The Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills game did 17.68 million viewers and a 4.49 in 18-49, up 22 percent in viewers and up 21 percent in 18-49 from last week. The breakdown was 9.21 million viewers and a 1.60 in 18-49 on ABC, 7.34 million and 2.41 in 18-49 on ESPN, and 1.12 million and 0.38 in 18-49 on ESPN2.

Raw was fifth for the night on cable, trailing four NFL-related broadcasts on ESPN.

Raw was down seven percent from last week in viewers, down seven percent in 18-49, and down nine percent in 18-34.

The show did its normal pattern with each hour down now that daylight savings time is over. But there was a rebound late in the third hour and the Damian Priest & Finn Balor vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso Tag Team title match at 1.39 million viewers was the highest of the past few weeks.

Raw was down 11 percent in viewers from last year, but up 0.3 percent in 18-49 and down four percent in 18-34. But the younger numbers are skewed because of fewer homes getting USA Network and 18-34 and 18-49 would be up significantly from last year factoring that in.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.59 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.45 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.36 million viewers

Raw last night did what I’d consider a great number considering competition from game seven of the Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers American League Championship Series and a San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings NFL game.

Raw averaged 1.48 million viewers with an even more impressive 0.46 rating in 18-49, with the ratings bolstered by a major increase in 18-34.

Raw was seventh for the night on cable, trailing four NFL-related shows and two baseball playoff-related shows.

The opposition saw the 49ers vs. Vikings game do a combined 18.61 million viewers and 4.91 rating in 18-49, broken down as 7.34 million/2.14 on ESPN, 10.20 million/1.98 on ABC, and 1,068,000/0.39 on ESPN2.

The Astros/Rangers game did 9.53 million/2.29 in 18-49 on Fox and FS1, broken down as 6.77 million viewers and a 1.64 in 18-49 on Fox and 2.76 million/0.65 on FS1.

Both games were head-to-head with Raw. In addition, the end of the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies game on TBS went against the first quarter of Raw and did 4.55 million viewers and a 1.07 rating in 18-49.

Next week, going against the World Series and the NFL, is the toughest week on paper, but Raw as of late has been doing above what it did the first few weeks against the NFL.

Raw was down only 7,000 viewers from last week, and it was even up two percent in 18-49 entirely due to 18-34 gains, and up 20 percent from last week in 18-34.

From one year ago, the audience was down due to Raw’s drop with people over 50 that dates back to August. But it’s well ahead in the key demos. Viewership was down 10 percent from last year, but 18-49 was up four percent and 18-34 was up 21 percent. Factoring in homes lost by USA Network over the past year, the real percentages would be down five percent with viewers but up 14 percent in 18-49 and up 33 percent in 18-34.

The show did a significant third-hour drop with the key match being Jey Uso vs. Damian Priest.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.57 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.51 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.35 million viewers