WWE Raw was hurt by a large tune-out factor in the final hour while producing its second-highest numbers against the NFL this season.
Monday’s episode from Oklahoma City averaged 1,804,000 viewers and approximately 648,000 (0.50) in the 18-49 demographic to rank fifth among cable programming, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
The show fell 10% in the 18-49 audience and dropped 1% in overall viewership from last week’s season premiere but was still ahead of the previous episodes that aired against Monday Night Football throughout September.
Monday’s game between the Denver Broncos and L.A. Chargers averaged 12,050,000 viewers and 3.75 in 18-49 to top all of television for the night, which didn’t include the rained-out MLB playoff between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.
In the main demo, Raw dropped 11% among males and 10% among females. In the 18-34 demo, the show was down 15% this week while adults 35-49 fell by 7% and adults 50+ posted a 6% increase from last week’s episode.
The first hour of the show averaged 1,941,000 viewers with 0.54 in the 18-49 demographic with Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley kicking off the show and followed by a match between The O.C. and Alpha Academy.
There was a drop in the second hour to 1,852,000 viewers and 0.51 in the key demo and then a larger drop in the third hour to 1,618,000 viewers and 0.44 in the demo. The final hour included the teased match between Dexter Lumis and The Miz that wasn’t delivered, the return of Elias, and the United States title match between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle.
From hour one to hour three, overall viewership fell 17% while 18-49 dropped 18.5%, 18-34 declined 23% and 50+ was down 13.5%.
In Canada, the show ranked sixth among sports programming with 154,000 viewers and 69,800 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360. It was down significantly from last week’s season premiere but had the disadvantage of airing against the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Arizona Coyotes game this week averaging approximately 1,023,000 viewers and the Monday Night Football game. While this week’s Raw was way down from last week’s viewership of 258,100, this week’s number topped the episodes from the previous two weeks.
Next week’s Raw will not air on Sportsnet 360 and instead, airs on OLN and will stream on the Sportsnet website.
