WWE Raw viewership hits new record low, 18-49 demo rating rises
Raw had it tough last night going against two different NFL games, one on ABC and another on ESPN.
That was offset by the fact that the buzz for the company was up after big numbers this past week for NXT and SmackDown and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s surprise return on Friday night.
The result was that Raw did the lowest total viewership the show has ever done for a regular episode in its history, but still had a substantial increase in the 18-49 demo and in particular 18-34.
NFL numbers are not available at press time but this will be updated later in the day.
Raw averaged 1.33 million viewers with a 0.44 rating in 18-49.
It was down two percent in viewers from last week, but up nine percent in 18-49 and up 22 percent in 18-34. The real growth was men 18-34 which would be a number attributable to curiosity following Johnson’s appearance as much as anything else.
Hour three hit another all-time low but the Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso match did pick up numbers at the end.
From last year, Raw was down 15 percent in viewers also against football, down one percent in 18-49 (again because of a younger audience skew), and up 13 percent in 18-34.
This continues the show’s pattern of the past month-plus where younger viewers remain strong but over 50 viewers are now hitting all-time lows.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 1.37 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 1.37 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 1.26 million viewers
