WWE Raw ratings down, hold up well with move to Syfy

The go-home show for SummerSlam did shockingly well on Syfy with 1.41 million viewers and a 0.51 in 18-49 based on a first report by Pro Wrestling Torch.

That meant about 48 percent of the viewers were between 18 and 49, a number WWE programming almost never gets. While down a little in 18-49, it appears the vast majority of the viewers lost to the Olympics and the move to the new channel were over the age of 50.

Raw was down 21 percent in viewers but down only 13 percent in 18-49 from last week.

The show did open strongly, which is a surprise except that they put C.M. Punk, Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre up at the start of the show. The drop in viewers in hour three, headlined by Gunther vs. Finn Balor, was larger than usual which wouldn’t be due to the station because the viewers were already there, but due to the Olympics.

We don’t have the Olympic numbers on  NBC or USA at press time.

Comparisons with a normal week on the regular channel last year are basically meaningless, but it would be down 20 percent in viewers but only down three percent in 18-49. When you consider how many 18-49 homes have cable this year vs. last year, and the competition, that’s incredible how little it declined and by actual real ratings based on total audience, it was actually up six percent from one year ago.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.53 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.46 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.24 million viewers