WWE Raw moving to a two-hour format led to a minor increase in this week’s overall viewership.
The October 7 episode from St. Louis averaged 1,545,000 viewers and 635,000 viewers (0.47) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider.
The first hour averaged 1,572,000 viewers and 0.49 in the key demo with the second hour attracting 1,518,000 viewers and 0.46 in the demo.
The show ranked third among prime-time cable programs behind Monday Night Football on ESPN and the ALDS game between the Kansas City Royal and New York Yankees on TBS.
Despite dropping the third hour, which is traditionally the least-watched for Raw, the show’s viewership only grew by 2% while the 18-49 audience was down by 1% from the week prior.
Raw aired against the New Orleans Saints vs. Kansas City Chiefs, which averaged 14,464,000 viewers and 3.95 in the 18-49 demographic along with 1,382,000 and 0.39 on ESPN 2 and 64,000 viewers and 0.03 in the demo on ESPN Deportes. The Royals vs. Yankees averaged 2,915,000 viewers and 0.69 in the demo on TBS.
Canadian viewership was 238,900 viewers and 119,100 in the 25-54 demographic, which was down from 292,500 and 149,600 in the demo last week. The show ranked third among sports programs behind Monday Night Football and the ALDS game and second in the demo behind the NFL.
This would be Raw’s lowest viewership in Canada since June 24.
According to Wrestlenomics, the peak quarter was the first fifteen minutes of the show with CM Punk’s speech followed by Seth Rollins, which averaged 1,714,000 viewers and 707,000 (0.53) in the demo. The final quarter featuring Gunther and Sami Zayn increased viewership by 16% from the prior quarter while the demo audience increased by 17%.
