Raw ratings affected by a change in viewing patterns

Raw on Monday was up less than one percent from the previous week to 3.23 million viewers, but the change in viewing patterns due to Daylight Savings Time were felt immediately.

The first hour, which had been the highest rated for months, was the lowest rated this past week. That is part of traditional patterns so you really can’t read anything into it. Because of that, with viewers coming in late, the third hour decline was less than in previous weeks, although hour three was down four percent from hour two.

Ratings were delayed by two days due to a power outage at Nielsen over the weekend and they have been playing catchup all week.

Raw was second for the night on cable, trailing only the O’Reilly Factor, which did 3.48 million viewers.

The third hour audience was greater than the first hour in every demo except viewers over the age of 50, which make up a substantial portion of the total audience.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 3.18 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 3.32 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 3.20 million viewers