The Memorial Day edition of Raw saw the show drop its lowest audience of the year despite a boost within the key demographic.
The May 30th edition of the show from Des Moines averaged 1,497,000 viewers and approximately 552,000 (0.42) in the 18-49 demographic, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
WWE Raw, Monday on USA Network:
1,497,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.42 (552,000)📊 https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/6tV14W0d8t
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) June 1, 2022
It was Raw’s lowest viewership since July 5, 2021, and would rank among the least-watched episodes of Raw in history, of the data that is available.
The show got off to a rough start with only 1,503,000 viewers and 0.43 in 18-49, growing to 1,587,000 and 0.44 in the second hour, and 1,400,000 and 0.40 in the final hour. The third hour kicked off with The Usos vs. Riddle & Shinsuke Nakamura, which they aired a countdown clock promoting throughout the first two hours. The shows featured the contract signing involving Bobby Lashley, Omos & MVP in the final segment of the show.
Throughout the three hours, overall viewership fell by seven percent with the 18-49 demo dropping by seven percent.
The 19 percent viewership drop was a function of Raw’s adult 50+ dropping by nearly the same percentage from last week. The 18-34 demo dropped by 11 percent throughout the show, and adults 50+ declined by eight percent from the first to the third hour.
The strongest hour was the second where every key demo either grew or stayed steady from the opening hour but they all dropped in hour three.
Raw’s 18-49 demo actually grew by three percent from last week’s episode with males in the demo up by three percent and females increasing by five percent. The adult 18-34 demo increased by 6.5 percent and adults 35-49 were flat from the prior week.
The 18 percent drop among adults 50+ was the key to the overall viewership drop.
Raw avoided the NBA playoffs but did air against the conference semi-final game between Game 7 of the New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes series that topped all of cable with 2,790,000 viewers and 0.90 in 18-49 on ESPN with Raw finishing second on cable.
In Canada, Raw averaged 151,200 viewers and 68,800 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360 where it finished fifth among sports programs on Monday – led by the NHL game.
Raw will avoid the NBA Finals next Monday but if the series between Golden State and Boston goes to Game 5, they will air against Raw on Monday, June 13th.
