WWE Raw ratings down against strong news competition
Raw last night was down due to significant news competition, and the show ended up with a highly unusual ratings pattern where it opened low, grew well in hour two, and then declined in hour three, but not by nearly as much as usual.
Raw averaged 1.75 million viewers and drew a 0.47 rating in 18-49, tying with Tucker Carlson for first place on the night. Of the top 23 shows on cable, 19 of them were news shows. News coverage of the war in Ukraine probably played the biggest factor in the decline from last week.
The show was down four percent in viewers, down eight percent in 18-49, and down 10 percent in 18-34 from last week.
As compared to one year ago, Raw was down seven percent in viewers, 19 percent in 18-49, and 17 percent in 18-34.
Raw was seventh for the night in women 18-49, behind five news shows and Below Deck Sailing on Bravo. In men 18-49, Raw was first. Raw was also first by a wide margin in 18-34 and both women and men 12-34.
Raw was 23rd in total viewers, behind only news shows on Fox News and CNN.
ESPN had college basketball head-to-head, which was the only sports competition, with the early game doing 1.09 million viewers and a 0.31 and the late game doing 994,000 viewers and a 0.29.
Raw’s audience in hour three was well above hour one in 18-34, as well as with teenagers, and that’s rare for the show. Even though the unusual circumstances change things, you have to go with the idea that the Edge promo regarding who he was going to face at WrestleMania made for a successful third hour as far as keeping viewers.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 1.74 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 1.84 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 1.69 million viewers