WWE Raw ratings up, stronger-than-usual retention throughout show
Coming off Fastlane, Raw had another strong rating last night with an average of 2.82 million viewers, up one percent from last week.
It was the second best number the show has done since September 3.
The notable thing about last night is that, even coming off a pay-per-view, the first hour was significantly down from the past two weeks. However, the audience retention over the three hours was the best in a long time, meaning this was a show that audience stuck with.
The second hour, with Ronda Rousey’s promo, Ricochet & Aleister Black vs. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, and Nia Jax vs. Natalya actually grew from the first hour, which is only the second time this year that has happened.
The third hour was only down three percent from the first hour, well below recent weeks where it has hovered closer to 20 percent. The keys to the third hour were the Triple H/Batista confrontation, the pushing of Kurt Angle’s announcement as well as his final match in Pittsburgh, and a show-long push for Roman Reigns’ first singles match since returning, even if that match never actually happened. The fact is people stayed for it since it was being promoted.
This was the first episode of Raw since the start of this year’s daylight saving time.
Raw was fourth for the night on cable, trailing three news shows.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 2.84 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 2.87 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 2.75 million viewers