WWE Raw posts record first-to-third hour ratings decline
Monday’s Raw did 2.46 million viewers, but the real story was the decline.
The show lost 24.5 percent of its first hour viewership by the third hour, the all-time record for a Raw episode. The old mark was 23.3 percent set on October 27, 2017.
There were two aspects to this, one of which was that a Golden State Warriors basketball game on the West Coast started during the third hour, which had a bad drop. But it also speaks to a lack of viewer interest in sticking with the show, with the Ronda Rousey & Natalya vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley main event which was advertised as the top match.
It’s also a bad sign because it may show the return to television of Vince McMahon was only a temporary fix, although he didn’t appear during the third hour.
Raw was down 10 percent from last week.
Raw was sixth for the night on cable, barely trailing the NBA game (2.47 million viewers) and four news shows.
The drops from hour one to three were 24 percent in women 18-49, 17 percent in men 18-49, 36 percent in girls 12-17, 29 percent in boys 12-17. and 23 percent in over 50. Very frequently viewership for boys 12-17 peaks in hour three, so there was something very different regarding this, and women have frequently headlined Raw without anything close to this happening.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 2.84 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 2.40 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 2.14 million viewers
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.