Photo courtesy: WWE
Monday’s episode of WWE Raw was a mixed bag as they hit their highest viewership in over two months but didn’t improve in the key demographic.
Monday’s three hour average of 1,939,000 viewers on the USA Network was their best figure since the night after WrestleMania on April 6th, which was also the last time the show topped two million viewers.
The show started with 1,982,0000 viewers, which was the best opening hour since May 11th with Becky Lynch’s pregnancy news. In the second hour, Raw increased to 1,996,000 viewers and fell 8% in the final hour to 1,838,000 viewers.
The show was built on the tease of Christian (Jay Reso) having his first match since March 2014 culminating in a one-minute match where Ric Flair hit him with a low blow and set up a punt kick by Randy Orton.
While the third hour did fall, it was their best third-hour performance since April 6th and 15% higher than last week’s final hour of the program.
Where the show wasn’t changed was in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.53 that was equal to last week’s number. Raw ranked 4th, 6th, and 7th among cable programming, and a key factor was cable news not attracting the same level of viewers as the past two weeks.
The two categories that saw significant increases were females 12-34 that grew 27% this week and adults over 50 that were up by 16%. Adults 18-34 were down 9% and males 12-34 fell by 8% this week.
When comparing the first hour to the third, the largest loss was among adults 18-34 falling by 21% followed by males 12-34 dropping 19%, and females 18-49 down 14% in the final hour.
Throughout the empty area shows, Raw has seen a bump following WrestleMania, Money in the Bank, and now Backlash. The post-MITB was unique because it had the tease of Becky Lynch’s announcement throughout the day leading into the program.
Next week’s episode of Raw is advertising The Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders for the Raw tag titles, Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. The IIconics for the women’s tag titles, and the return of Rey Mysterio.
Below is a breakdown of the key demographics:
ADULTS 18-49
This week: 0.53 (Even)
Hour 1-3: -12.5%
FEMALES 18-49
This week: 0.40 (+8%)
Hour 1-3: -14%
MALES 18-49
This week: 0.66 (-4%)
Hour 1-3: -11.5%
ADULTS 18-34
This week: 0.29 (-9%)
Hour 1-3: -21%
FEMALES 12-34
This week: 0.28 (+27%)
Hour 1-3: -13%
MALES 12-34
This week: 0.33 (-8%)
Hour 1-3: -19%
ADULTS 25-54
This week: 0.65 (+1.5%)
Hour 1-3: -7.5%
ADULTS 50+
This week: 0.95 (+16%)
Hour 1-3: -5%
