WWE Raw ratings up despite big NCAA women’s basketball competition
Update:
WWE Raw did a 0.57 in the 18-49 demo on Monday, not 0.60 as had originally been reported.
Original:
We only have sketchy ratings info at this point from last night, but Raw averaged 1.73 million viewers and did a strong 0.60 (Editor’s update: Dave Meltzer has confirmed the rating was a 0.57, not 0.60) in 18-49 for a show that featured both The Rock and CM Punk.
PWTorch was the first to report these numbers.
The number of total viewers is normal based on recent weeks, which would be a disappointment on a normal night based on the appearances of the two. But given the competition, it’s best to call it good. The 18-49 number would be considered very strong. The viewing audience was far younger than usual for the show.
The key is that The Bachelor on ABC had 4.14 million viewers and a 0.80 rating in 18-49, much higher than usual in the key demo. But the real competition was ESPN’s coverage of Iowa vs. West Virginia in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, which had 4.90 million viewers. We don’t have an 18-49 number at this moment. But it was the third largest viewing audience for a women’s NCAA tournament game in the past 20 years, and the largest ever this early in the tournament. To do that in a period when fewer homes have cable is even more impressive.
Women’s basketball interest this season has been way up. Caitlin Clark is a major star, and every game she is in before elimination is expected to set records. Given that competition, a normal Raw probably would have taken it on the chin.
Raw was up two percent in viewers from last week’s normal show that had lesser competition. The rating in 18-49 was also up from last week (which drew a 0.55).
As compared to this point in 2023, when Raw also went against lesser competition, Raw had a 12 percent year-over-year decline in viewers but an increase of seven percent in 18-49, again showing major losses with people over 50 but gains with those under 50.
If you factor in the losses of homes by cable, a fair comparison with last year would be down one percent in viewers and up 18 percent in 18-49.
The hour figures were:
- 8 p.m.: 1.76 million viewers
- 9 p.m.: 1.83 million viewers
- 10 p.m.: 1.60 million viewers
