Tag: raw ratings

WWE Raw last night drew the most viewers the show has done since the start of the NFL season, but the 18-49 number declined significantly from last week. The show did face much tougher competition last night.

Raw averaged 1.56 million viewers and drew a 0.43 rating in 18-49 going against the Raiders-Packers Monday Night Football game as well as baseball playoff games.

The football game did 7.18 million viewers/2.37 on ESPN, 9.17 million viewers/1.78 on ABC, and 1.04 million viewers/0.39 on ESPN2. In total, the game did 17.38 million viewers and a 4.55. That’s compared to the 16.59 million/4.40 that Monday Night Football did last week.

The difference is the two playoff baseball games on TBS, with the Philadelphia vs. Atlanta game against the first hour doing 3.14 million/0.85 and Arizona vs. Los Angeles against the final two hours doing 2.22 million/0.55.

WWE usually will have a bump coming off a PPV event. and Raw was up three percent in viewers from last week, but it was down 11 percent in 18-49 and down 20 percent in 18-34. The baseball factor is probably related to the decline from last week with younger viewers but even with the competition Raw had a marked increase with people over 50.

The episode peaked in the opening segment with Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre and had the usual ratings pattern for the show. The Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn main event did 1.40 million viewers.

From one year ago, Raw was down 15 percent in viewers, down 22 percent in 18-49, and down 20 percent in 18-34. That number was unusually large since there was a DX reunion, plus a strong tease of Bray Wyatt’s TV return that boosted the ratings of the show last year (which wasn’t delivered on that episode). Raw episodes this year have mostly been way up with younger viewers than the same week last year so this was an aberration.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.62 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.61 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.45 million viewers

Raw last night did its best numbers since the start of the NFL season, averaging 1.51 million viewers and drawing a 0.48 rating in the 18-49 demo.

Football numbers are not available at press time but ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 all had the same Seattle Seahawks vs. New York Giants game, rather than two different games as has been the case the past two weeks or a monster game like in week one.

Raw started out strong but had a bigger third hour drop than has been the case in recent months with the Gunther vs. Tommaso Ciampa main event. The main event did 1.35 million viewers.

The first hour was far above what has been the case since football started, but the third hour was in the same realm.

Raw was up three percent in viewers, up 12 percent in 18-49, and up 33 percent in 18-34 from last week, so the growth skewed younger.

The strongest gains were with men 18-34.

The Raw audience being younger is more obvious when comparing the show with one year ago. While viewers were down six percent from last year, the 18-49 rating was up 17 percent and the 18-34 rating was up 49 percent even with the decline of homes that get USA Network.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.63 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.57 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.39 million viewers

Raw last night, which went against NFL games on both ABC and ESPN, was up in viewers over the prior two weeks but down in 18-49.

The show averaged 1.47 million viewers and drew a 0.43 rating in 18-49.

Raw was eighth on cable behind seven NFL-related shows on ESPN and ESPN2.

The Philadelphia Eagles-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on ABC did 13.72 million viewers and a 3.84 in 18-49. The Los Angeles Rams-Cincinnati Bengals game did 7.69 million viewers and a 2.29 on ESPN and 1.30 million viewers and a 0.43 on ESPN2. The 22.70 million football audience and 6.56 in 18-49 compares to 22.30 million viewers and 6.37 last week, so the football competition was actually tougher this Monday.

Raw was up 10 percent in viewers from last week and 18-49 was down two percent while 18-34 was down five percent.

The total viewers were the best so far this season on Monday against the NFL, but still below what Raw was doing one year ago. The show continues to draw a higher percentage of younger viewers than last year, particularly men, consistent with all WWE programming.

The show started higher than it did the past two weeks but had a bigger third hour drop with a main event of Damian Priest & Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles.

From one year ago, Raw was down 12 percent in viewers, down four percent in 18-49, and down three percent in 18-34. Given the drop in cable homes from last year, the real changes would be seven percent down in viewers, but four percent up in 18-49 and six percent up in 18-34, so the drops from last year were viewers over the age of 50.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.55 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.53 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.32 million viewers

Raw had it tough last night going against two different NFL games, one on ABC and another on ESPN.

That was offset by the fact that the buzz for the company was up after big numbers this past week for NXT and SmackDown and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s surprise return on Friday night.

The result was that Raw did the lowest total viewership the show has ever done for a regular episode in its history, but still had a substantial increase in the 18-49 demo and in particular 18-34.

NFL numbers are not available at press time but this will be updated later in the day.

Raw averaged 1.33 million viewers with a 0.44 rating in 18-49.

It was down two percent in viewers from last week, but up nine percent in 18-49 and up 22 percent in 18-34. The real growth was men 18-34 which would be a number attributable to curiosity following Johnson’s appearance as much as anything else.

Hour three hit another all-time low but the Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso match did pick up numbers at the end.

From last year, Raw was down 15 percent in viewers also against football, down one percent in 18-49 (again because of a younger audience skew), and up 13 percent in 18-34.

This continues the show’s pattern of the past month-plus where younger viewers remain strong but over 50 viewers are now hitting all-time lows.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.37 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.37 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.26 million viewers

With the opening night of Monday Night Football doing record numbers, Raw last night took a beating.

The Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets game that went into overtime did 22,615,000 viewers between ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2. It was the second-largest MNF audience in years.

Raw took the hit, drawing the lowest total viewership number in the show’s nearly 31-year history for a regular episode on USA Network with 1.35 million viewers and a 0.40 rating in 18-49. The only Raw episode to ever do a lower viewership number was a Best Of show.

The 0.40 would be Raw’s second lowest rating of the year.

The football number is the complete explanation for the huge drop, although the episode had no big hook as far as a huge main event, since Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez was the only big match announced ahead of time, and it wasn’t coming off a PPV.

Raw was down 21 percent from last week in viewers, down 22 percent in 18-49, and down 26 percent in 18-34.

From last year, Raw was down 21 percent in viewers from the 2022 Monday Night Football opener (which did 19.76 million viewers). It was down eight percent in 18-49 and down 22 percent in 18-34. Factoring in that cable lost homes, the real percentage drops would be 16 percent in viewers, a one percent increase in 18-49, and a 14 percent drop in 18-34.

The third-hour drop was not any different from a usual week, but the 1.25 million audience for the main event was the lowest in the history of the show.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.37 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.40 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.29 million viewers

Raw on Monday averaged 1.70 million viewers and drew a 0.52 rating in 18-49, which I’d call good numbers considering the competition from college football.

ESPN had the Duke vs. Clemson game that did 4.39 million viewers and a 1.32, but it should be noted that Charter subscribers, which are about 20 percent of the cable universe, had the game blacked out and thus in those homes it was not competition for Raw.

USA was second behind ESPN on cable and beat all network programming.

Raw was up two percent in viewership from last week even with tougher competition, up 0.3 percent in 18-49, and up seven percent in 18-34.

Given the show was on Labor Day, it would be expected to do a higher second hour than first, which didn’t happen as the two numbers were almost identical with 8,000 more watching hour one. The third hour decline, built around Gunther trying to break the IC title record in a match with Chad Gable, was at usual levels.

The episode was down from the same week in 2022, and most comparisons to a year ago for Raw have been very favorable for growth, particularly with younger viewers.

It was down 17 percent year-over-year with viewers, down 11 percent in 18-49, and down 22 percent in 18-34. When you factor in the decline in homes on cable, the 18-49 number wasn’t that different from last year but total viewers would be down 12 percent. Last year also went against college football on ESPN that was available in virtually every home that had Raw, but also overall was not quite as big of a game.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.59 million viewers

Raw last night was up from last week, likely due to having no NFL competition this Monday.

Raw averaged 1.68 million viewers and drew a 0.51 rating in 18-49. The show did steady numbers until 10:15 p.m. and then had a big drop in the last 45 minutes.

Raw was first place on television for the night. The closest cable competition was 90 Day: The Last Resort on TLC at 1,29 million/0.31 while NBC’s American Ninja Warrior topped the network rankings at 3.30 million/0.44.

Raw was still lower than the show had been doing with no football competition in previous weeks as the number two weeks ago was 1.76 million/0.55.

Raw was up five percent from last week against preseason football in total viewers, as well as up three percent in 18-49 and down 14 percent in 18-34.

Although Raw has been beating last year’s numbers routinely, last year on this week Raw did a huge number and this year was down 20 percent in viewers, down 12 percent in 18-49, and down 26 percent in 18-34. Factoring in the loss of homes over the past year in cable, the real drops would be 16 percent in viewers, four percent in 18-49, and 19 percent in 18-34.

The third hour, built around a Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark falls count anywhere match, didn’t hold the audience well.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.74 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.73 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.57 million viewers

Raw last night started unusually low but recovered well, doing 1.76 million viewers and a 0.55 rating in 18-49. It was the lowest viewership number since June 12, which was the episode that went head-to-head with the final game of the NBA playoffs.

The low start meant the first and third hours had identical viewership and for the first time I can recall in a long time, the first quarter at 1.59 million viewers was the low point of the entire show.

Rankings for the day are unavailable at press time.

The show would be expected to be down from last week, given last Monday was the Raw after SummerSlam.

The drop from last week was seven percent in viewers, 10 percent in 18-49, and seven percent in 18-34, which would be drops along the lines of what one would expect.

However, the difference in the make-up of viewership from one year ago was notable. While down 11 percent in total viewers, that was largely due to a decline in viewers over 50. The 18-49 demo was up four percent and 18-34 was up 42 percent from the same week last year.

When you factor in the losses of cable homes over the past year, you would still have a six percent drop in total viewers. It has been very rare that total viewers from this year were down over the same week last year. But with the younger audience, the numbers are still way up, as factoring that in you get a 14 percent increase in 18-49 and a 57 percent increase in 18-34.

All things considered based on the patterns, the Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor main event was strong in keeping the viewership until the end of the show. But that’s also attributable to people starting watching the episode late, meaning that they are more likely to stay with the show longer.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.73 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.82 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.73 million viewers

Raw last night averaged 1.89 million viewers and drew a 0.61 rating in 18-49, numbers that would normally be considered good, but all things considered the total viewer number had to be a disappointment.

Last year’s Raw after SummerSlam did 2.23 million viewers, although the 0.62 in 18-49 isn’t much different from this year and that’s with a decline in homes that get the USA Network.

Still, with the commercial-free first hour and coming the day after one of the biggest shows of the year, and the general growth almost every week, one would have thought it would have topped two million viewers.

Over the past three years, the 18-49 bump averaged 37 percent while this year the number was 14 percent.

The show was up seven percent in viewers from last week, up 14 percent in 18-49, and up 21 percent in 18-34.

As compared to the episode after SummerSlam last year, Raw was down 20 percent in viewers, down one percent in 18-49, and up 15 percent in 18-34. So the decline was largely with people over 50.

The other surprise is that with the first hour commercial-free, it created an artificial high, but the drop-off of viewers during the show was minimal. Usually after a PPV there is a big first hour with people watching out of curiosity, but a big drop in hour three.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.96 million
• 9 p.m. 1.88 million
• 10 p.m. 1.82 million

Raw had a unique night last night where, as is rarely the occasion, the third hour was actually slightly higher than the first hour.

Overall the show averaged 1.76 million viewers and drew a 0.53 rating in 18-49, both a little below what has been the usual levels. The 18-49 number was Raw’s lowest since the holiday episode on July 3 and the total viewership was the lowest since June 12.

The second hour (which was the high point) had the usual 9 p.m. peak and then was strong again for the Cody Rhodes angle with Brock Lesnar.

The third hour was headlined by Seth Rollins & Sami Zayn vs. Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio.

The show was down three percent in viewers from last week, down seven percent in 18-49, and down 13 percent in 18-34.

From one year ago, the comparison is somewhat unfair because SummerSlam came a week earlier. So the Raw after SummerSlam was a monster rating, like next week is likely to be.

It was down 21 percent in viewers from last year, down 13 percent in 18-49, and down five percent in 18-34. If you factor in homes lost by USA, the actual numbers would be 16 percent down with viewers, five percent down in 18-49, and four percent up in 18-34.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.71 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.86 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.72 million viewers

Raw last night averaged 1.82 million viewers and drew a 0.57 rating in 18-49 along with a very strong 0.43 in 18-34.

While the viewers and 18-49 number were similar to last week, the 18-34 number was way up, which could have to do with Logan Paul.

It was the normal summer pattern where the second hour was the high point and the high point being Dominik Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn for the NXT North American title.

There was a pretty significant third hour drop so the Seth Rollins-Finn Balor contract signing didn’t keep the audience as well as most main events.

The show was down two percent in viewers from last week, but almost identical in 18-49 and 18-34 was up 25 percent.

From last year, it was down four percent in viewers from the first Raw after Vince McMahon announced his retirement and the number was way up from that time frame, but the audience this year is substantially younger with a 15 percent gain in 18-49 and a 31 percent gain in 18-34. And that’s with a marked decline in the number of homes USA Network is in.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.87 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.91 million viewers
• 10 pm. 1.67 million viewers

Raw last night averaged 1.86 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in 18-49, numbers slightly up from last week’s show that had competition from Home Run Derby, so the increase would have been expected.

Raw was the highest rated show in 18-49 both on cable television and beat every network show as well.

The second highest rated cable show, 90 Day Fiance, did a 0.20 in 18-49. Nothing on network TV topped a 0.41.

From last week, Raw was up three percent in viewers, up two percent in 18-49, and down nine percent in 18-34.

From one year ago, the show was up five percent from an episode that went against Home Run Derby, but up 23 percent in 18-49 and up eight percent in 18-34. Factoring in the homes lost by cable, the real percentage increases were 11 percent in viewers and 36 percent in 18-49.

The Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn tag title match against Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio did a better job than most Raw main events as far as the first-to-third hour drop is concerned.