WWE Raw faced it toughest night of playoff competition this season with its viewership holding up with the prior week.
The May 8th edition of Raw from Jacksonville averaged 1,785,000 viewers and approximately 670,000 (0.51) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
Overall viewership was nearly identical to last week’s figure of 1,778,000 while the 18-49 demographic dropped five percent – its lowest figure since February 27.
Raw managed to rank fourth among cable originals behind the two NBA playoff games and Inside the NBA that followed on TNT.
It was a heavy night of competition including the third hour of Raw airing against the L.A. Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors which did 7.5 million viewers and a 2.71 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The first two hours of Raw aired against the Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks (4,588,000 viewers and 1.53 in the demo) as well as the NHL playoff game between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers (1,181,000 and 0.39) on ESPN.
WWE Raw opened with a low figure of 1,779,000 and 0.50 in the 18-49 demographic, which was its lowest opening hour since April 10. However, they jumped seven percent in viewership to 1,905,000 and 0.54 in the demo in hour two, which beat all three hours of last week’s episode featuring the draft.
In the third hour, Raw fell 12 percent against the Lakers vs. Warriors game with a 0.50 in the 18-49 demo. Despite the huge basketball game, it was the strongest third hour on Raw since April 10 and the fact they maintained their demo throughout the show when the Warriors vs. Lakers game began should be viewed as a big achievement.
In the 18-49 demo, males fell by five percent this week to its lowest number since February 27 and female viewership in the demo dropped three percent to its lowest figure since January 16 when Raw aired against an NFL Wild Card game.
Adults 18-34 declined by nine percent this week while adults 35-49 fell by two percent but adults 50+ were up by one percent.
From hour one to hour three, viewership dropped by six percent but males 18-49 grew by three percent, and adults 18-34 increased by six percent.
In Canada, the show averaged its largest viewership in the country since April 3 with 263,300 viewers and 116,500 in the 25-54 demographic, which represented increases of 25 and 15 percent respectively. Raw ranked sixth among sports programs for the night, which was led by the Las Vegas vs. Edmonton game, but Raw was just edged out in the demo audience by the two NBA playoff games, which didn’t do close to the audience of the NHL game.
