WWE Raw saw its audience grow for the second night of the annual draft with the show performing at its highest level since August 30th.
The October 4th draft edition from Nashville averaged 1,857,000 viewers and 680,000 (0.52) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
It was their best number on Raw over the past five weeks and represented a gain of 9 percent in both overall viewers and the 18-49 demo.
The show began with 1,949,000 viewers and 0.54 in 18-49 for the first hour and stayed steady in hour two with 1,902,000 and 0.54. The third-hour drop saw viewers fall 12.3 percent to 1,721,000 and the demo dropped 11 percent to 0.48. It was still the most-watched third hour of Raw since the return of Monday Night Football.
In the third hour, the largest loss was among males 12-34 that fell by 30 percent from hour one while females 18-49 decreased by 17 percent throughout the episode. Females 12-34 were the most consistent with no change throughout the episode and was even with last week’s number in the demo.
The three-hour show went against the Las Vegas Raiders vs. L.A. Chargers game that averaged 12,319,000 viewers on ESPN, which was down 4.5 percent from the Cowboys vs. Eagles last week.
Compared to last week, males 18-49 grew by 14 percent while adults over 50 increased by 10.5 percent. Males 12-34 dropped by 4 percent and was the only demo on Showbuzz Daily that experienced a decrease from last week.
In terms of past years of the WWE Draft, this year’s version on Raw was basically identical in average viewers with 1,857,000 from the 2020 show in the ThunderDome while 18-49 fell 9 percent. If you compare this year’s draft to the 2019 episode of the draft, overall viewership was down by 18.5 percent and the 18-49 number declined by 30 percent.
In Canada, Raw averaged 226,000 viewers and 102,000 in the 25-54 demo on Sportsnet 360. The number was up slightly from last week where Raw averaged 222,400 and 94,100 respectively. With the end of the Toronto Blue Jays’ season, that takes away the strongest sports programming in the country on a near-nightly basis.
For the demo breakdown, we have included the ratings for the draft editions of Raw in 2020 and 2019. In 2020, it took place without fans in the ThunderDome and went against both Monday Night Football and the MLB playoffs. In 2019, Raw also went against the NFL and MLB.
ADULTS 18-49
This week: 0.52 (+9 percent from last week)
Hour 1-3: -11 percent
2020: 0.57
2019: 0.74
FEMALES 18-49
This week: 0.38 (+5.5 percent)
Hour 1-3: -17 percent
2020: 0.46
2019: 0.56
MALES 18-49
This week: 0.67 (+14 percent)
Hour 1-3: -7 percent
2020: 0.68
2019: 0.92
ADULTS 18-34
This week: 0.24 (-11 percent)
Hour 1-3: -11.5 percent
2020: 0.29
2019: 0.48
FEMALES 12-34
This week: 0.20 (Even)
Hour 1-3: Even
2020: 0.22
2019: 0.37
MALES 12-34
This week: 0.23 (-4 percent)
Hour 1-3: -30 percent
2020: 0.35
2019: 0.50
ADULTS 25-54
This week: 0.66 (+10 percent)
Hour 1-3: -10 percent
2020: 0.67
2019: 0.89
ADULTS 50+
This week: 0.95 (+10.5 percent)
Hour 1-3: -10 percent
2020: 0.85
2019: 1.02
