By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw on Monday, December 2 scored a 2.65 rating, down three-tenths of a rating (10 percent) from a 2.93 rating last week.

It was one of the lowest ratings of the year, in-line with 2.68 and 2.65 ratings on September 30 and October 7, respectively.

Raw was hit hard in the key demos, but mostly among younger viewers. Compared to last week, Raw was down 20 percent in m18-34, 21 percent in m12-34, and 25 percent in m12-17.

- Raw averaged 3.541 million viewers, down 14 percent from last week's post-Survivor Series episode of Raw.

It was the fewest viewers of the year (fewer than the previous year-low of 3.583 million viewers in September) and slightly fewer than the New Year's Eve episode on December 31, 2012, which averaged 3.551 million viewers.

Hourly Break Down: 3.616 million first hour viewers (nearly fewest of the year), decline to 3.560 million second hour viewers (nearly fewest of the year), and decline to 3.447 million third hour viewers, which was the fewest of the year.

The third-hour decline was despite the NFL Monday Night Football game being a blow-out by this point. The football game, which matched two of the top teams in the NFL, averaged 15.5 million viewers, which is a good number, but not a blow-away number.

- On cable TV Monday night, Raw ranked #3 in overall viewers behind football and "Major Crimes" on TNT. Raw ranked #3 in m18-49 behind football and "Fast 'N Loud" on Discovery), and ranked a distant #9 in teen males.

Caldwell's Analysis: Raw actually declining in the third hour despite the NFL game being a blow-out should be a cause for concern. The content of that third hour showed why Raw should not be a three-hour show unless WWE has a more disciplined approach to their Monday night program. Constipation, dancing, and a main event centered on vomiting is not exactly a formula for third hour success.

Within the demographic ratings, Raw losing younger viewers should be a concern, especially when football typically draws away older Raw viewers, not younger viewers. It could be a combination of Raw not being "cool" right now, the end of Daniel Bryan's main event run, and John Cena not really being in jeopardy right now squaring off with a foe like Randy Orton who is afraid of his own shadow at this point.

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