WWE Raw was knocked out of the top spot on cable by the NBA but still saw growth in its key demographic.
The March 13th edition of the show from Providence averaged 1,705,000 viewers and approximately 691,000 (0.53) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
The show ranked second among cable originals on Monday behind the late game between the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors (1,882,000 viewers and 0.59 in the demo) on ESPN. Raw did beat the earlier game between Memphis and Dallas (1,215,000 and 0.38) as well as the World Baseball Classic game between the U.S. and Canada on FS 1 (721,000 and 0.27).
Overall viewership of Raw dropped seven percent from last week and was its lowest average since January 16 when Raw aired against the NFL Wild Card game, which did 31 million viewers.
In the 18-49 demo, the audience grew by two percent including a six percent uptick in female viewers in the demo.
Adults 18-34 saw a growth of six percent this week while adults 35-49 were even with last week’s audience.
The overall loss of viewers was due to a 12 percent decrease among adults 50+ from last week, which were their lowest audience in that category since January 16.
The show opened with 1,779,000 viewers and 0.52 in the 18-49 demographic for the opening hour included Edge and Finn Balor setting up their Hell in a Cell match for WrestleMania, a face-to-face between Omos and Brock Lesnar, and Cody Rhodes vs. LA Knight. In the second hour, the show fell to 1,760,000 viewers but grew to 0.58 in the demo and grew across all the key demos, except for adults 50+. In the third hour, the show dropped to 1,575,000 viewers and 0.50 in the demo. It was the least-watched third hour of Raw since January 16.
Throughout the three-hour show, overall viewership dropped by 11.5 percent, the 18-49 audience decreased by four percent, and adults 18-34 fell by 11 percent. Males 18-49 grew by two percent from hour one to hour three.
Following a massive number on SmackDown, Raw did a huge number on Sportsnet 360 in Canada with an average of 358,500 viewers and 156,900 in the 25-54 demographic. Among sports programming, Raw ranked third in overall viewership and second in the demo. It was up by 12 percent in viewers and down seven percent in the demo from last week.
It was the second most-watched episode of Raw in Canada this year behind the Raw is XXX special and topped every episode of Raw in 2022 on Sportsnet 360.
From A&E this past Sunday, the two-hour ‘Biography’ on Kane averaged 383,000 viewers and approximately 170,000 (0.13) in the 18-49 demographic and ranked #33 among cable originals. It was the least-watched episode of the WWE Biography series to date. It was down 20 percent in viewers and decreased by seven percent in the demo from last week’s episode on Chyna.
WWE Rivals on Triple H vs. Batista averaged 287,000 viewers and 117,000 (0.09) in the 18-49 demo and ranked #53. The episode dropped 26 percent viewers and 25.5 percent in the demo from last week’s show covering The Rock vs. John Cena.
It should be noted that the A&E block aired against the Academy Awards which averaged 18,755,000 viewers and 4.03 in the demo.
Next week’s A&E Biography will be broken up with one hour on Jerry Lawler and the other hour covering Paige (Saraya-Jade Bevis) and Rivals will focus on Lita vs. Trish Stratus.
