PWTorch.com - WWE NEWS: Raw TV ratings are in - Raw unchanged despite returns of Lesnar & Taker

WWE News
WWE NEWS: Raw TV ratings are in - Raw unchanged despite returns of Lesnar & Taker

Aug 18, 2015 - 5:44:06 PM

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By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw TV Ratings

-- August 17: Monday's Raw was essentially unchanged from last week. The rating was up slightly, but viewership was down slightly.

Raw inched up to a 2.73 rating, from a 2.71 rating last week.

Raw increased 17 percent in the males 18-34 demographic, but the increase was nearly offset by a decline among adults 18-49.

-WWE brought back Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker for the final hype before Summerslam, but viewership declined from last week's show.

Raw averaged 3.776 million viewers, down 1.5 percent from 3.837 million viewers last week for a show featuring Daniel Bryan's "homecoming" TV return.

This week's hour-by-hour break down shows the most viewers were in the second hour, not in the third hour & over-run when Lesnar returned to TV for his own "homecoming" tied to Taker.

Hourly Break Down: 3.649 million first hour viewers (down 100k from last week), increase to 3.953 million second hour viewers (nearly identical to last week's second hour), and 3.728 million third hour viewers (down slightly from last week).

Caldwell's Analysis: Too much damage done to the product over the long haul to get the audience back, even for Taker & Lesnar. WWE will likely have a big event or multiple big events at Summerslam to try to boost the product and the post-PPV Raw next week. And, whatever those events are will need to have some carry-over into the fall season really grabbing the attention and investment of viewers who have checked out over time, especially with the NFL Regular Season on the horizon.