WWE Raw ratings up, averages two million viewers

Raw did another big number last night from Toronto, averaging 2.01 million viewers and drawing a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demo.

The show did a great job with the male audience in particular, with hour three with Edge vs. Damian Priest actually beating hour one in ages 12-49.

Raw placed second on cable to an Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Jets preseason football game at 2.29 million viewers and 0.61.

Raw was second among women 18-49 behind Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, but beat the NFL game, second to football in men 18-49, beat football for first in 18-34 and second to Love & Hip Hop among women 12-34, and placed second behind football in men 12-34.

For total viewers, Raw was ninth behind seven news shows and the NFL. Raw also beat everything on network TV in 18-49 except The Bachelorette on ABC.

Raw was up one percent in viewers from last week but up four percent in 18-49 and up 15 percent in 18-34.

Last year’s show this week was the episode after SummerSlam, and Raw was down three percent in viewers, down 14 percent in 18-49, and down 16 percent in 18-34. But that’s a misleading comparison because it was the episode after a PPV.

Factoring out the drop in cable homes from last year, the real percentage of homes and viewers were up one percent from last year, while 18-49 was down 11 percent and 18-34 was down 12 percent.

Once again Raw avoided the big third-hour drop with the Edge vs. Priest main event. Women 18-49 from hour one to three were down eight percent, but men were up seven percent which is rare, women 12-34 were up five percent and men 12-34 were up 19 percent which is very unusual. People over 50 were down 10 percent. Among younger male demos the third hour was a big success.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 2.06 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 2.04 million viewers
• 10 p.m. 1.92 million viewers