WWE Raw ratings down only slightly against NCAA tournament
Image: WWE
Raw last night was down only one percent from the prior week, which is a big positive given the competition from the NCAA basketball tournament which had games on CBS, TBS, and TNT head-to-head.
Raw averaged 1.82 million viewers, likely boosted by the Fastlane pay-per-view the night before but not enough to offset basketball taking away viewers under the age of 35. Raw did a 0.53 rating in 18-49 and a 0.25 in 18-34, down five and 22 percent from last week. The 18-34 number, where college basketball is extremely strong, tells you that basketball took away a lot of younger viewers.
CBS had two games against Raw, with the early game doing 5.85 million viewers overall and a 1.35 rating in 18-49, and the late game doing 4.22 million viewers and a 1.14 in 18-49. The TBS game did 1.75 million viewers and a 0.56. The TNT game did 1.98 million viewers and a 0.56.
Raw was fourth in 18-49 on cable, fourth in men 18-49, third in women 18-49, fifth in 18-34, and fifth in men 12-34.
Raw was 13th for the night on cable in total viewers, trailing two basketball-related shows and 10 news shows.
As compared to the same week last year, which drew the lowest numbers up to that point in Raw history for a live show, hurt by being early in the pandemic, Raw was down nine percent in viewers, 13 percent in 18-49, and 38 percent in 18-34.
Raw had a lower than usual decline number, which is partially attributable to changing viewer patterns due to daylight savings time. In 12-49, the audience grew each hour, but that was offset by the over 50 drops.
From hour one to three, women 18-49 were down three percent, men 18-49 were up five percent, teenage girls were up eight percent, and teenage boys were up nine percent. But over 50 dropped 10 percent.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 1.88 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 1.84 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 1.73 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.