PWTorch.com - WWE NEWS: Raw TV ratings are in for Monday's post-Battleground show

WWE News
WWE NEWS: Raw TV ratings are in for Monday's post-Battleground show

Jul 21, 2015 - 5:10:07 PM

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By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw TV Ratings

-- July 20: Monday's WWE Raw scored a 2.80 rating following the Battleground PPV with the sudden re-introduction of The Undertaker opposite Brock Lesnar.

Raw was up from an historically-low 2.52 rating last week, but was below the previous post-PPV episode. The June 15 Raw after Money in the Bank scored a 2.83 rating.

- Raw averaged 3.804 million viewers, the most since post-MITB Raw, but the show was hurt by a 12 percent decline in the third hour...

Hourly Break Down: 3.840 million first hour viewers post-Battleground, 4.030 million viewers for the main Taker-Lesnar brawl, and a sharp decline to 3.542 million third hour viewers. The third hour drew fewer viewers than the previous two Raw episodes.

- In the demographic ratings, Raw was hurt by a sharp decline in the males 18-49. Raw scored a three-week low in m18-49 to put a dent in ratings increase for m18-34 and adults 18-49.

Caldwell's Analysis: There are a lot of ways to look at this in the short-term and big picture. For starters, next week's show marks the three-year anniversary of WWE introducing three-hour Raws. There is a strong argument that the decision to go to three hours is playing out now when looking at a sharp 8-9 percent decline in average ratings and viewership in the first-half of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Viewers are not deeply invested in the show and do not have the patience for a three-hour show on a weekly basis, and have decided to pick their spots on when to watch. For instance, this week, the Taker-Lesnar brawl happened at the top of the second hour, so viewers had to wait an hour-and-a-half for the next big thing - the six-man tag main event. That's a long period in between significant events on the show. That surely contributed to a 12 percent decline from the second to third hour.

Short-term, WWE is trying to fix the post-WrestleMania ratings decline by re-introducing The Undertaker and setting up a big Taker-Lesnar program for Summerslam. But, only drawing a 2.80 rating - down from the previous post-PPV Raw episode - indicates that too much damage has been done creatively. Both in the long-term during the three-hour Raw era and short-term post-Mania. Since Mania, shows have been heavy on repetitive Authority segments, centered on a champion who has been booked like a joke at times, and been noticeably absent of strong babyfaces trying take down The Authority. In other words, somewhat depressing to watch, driving viewers away.

There could be a Lag Effect where buzz about Taker's return and this week's feel-good post-Battleground Raw leads to a delayed ratings increase next week or the week after. But, it does not appear Raw will reach the 3.0-rating barometer during Summerslam build-up. So, Raw remains stuck below 3.0, where they have been every week since post-Mania Raw three months ago.