Raw ratings remain low against Olympics coverage
WWE should be very happy the Olympics are ending this week.
Raw was up very slightly, from 2.90 million viewers last week to 2.91 million viewers this week going against the Olympics. They would be the two lowest non-holiday numbers since 1997.
The bad news is Raw stayed virtually identical while the Olympics number fell from 28.76 million last Monday to 24.27 million last night.
Raw ended up fourth for the night on cable, trailing Rizzoli & Isles and Major Crimes on TNT, and The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News.
The number should rebound strongly next week, coming the day after SummerSlam.
The show did the usual pattern of the late arriving and early leaving audience that peaks in the middle, which will likely change when Daylight Savings time ends.
In the key 18-49 demo, 13 percent of the second hour viewers tuned out for the third hour.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 2.88 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.08 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.78 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.