Raw Rating: Raw draws second-lowest rating of year, but mystery partner teaser seemed to help stave off bigger third hour drop (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Last night’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network drew a 2.04 rating based on live and same-night DVR viewership. That is a drop from the 2.26 rating last week and the 2.26 ten-week rolling average headed into this week. It’s the lowest rating since Jan. 9.

The rating this week last year was 2.20, a drop from the 2.58 ten week rolling average. So the dropoff last year was 0.038 from the ten-week average headed into the week, and this year the dropoff was 0.22 from the ten-week average headed into this week.

The average first-hour viewership was just under 3 million (2.999 million), grew to 3.141 in the second hour and dropped to 2.881 million in the third hour. It’s the first time the first hour of Raw drew under 3 million in the opening the hour this year. It drew under 3 million every week in December last year, though.

Keller’s Analysis: This show came across as weak in terms of the star power being stretched over three hours. The dropoff this week from the first hour to the third hour was 118,000, half of the dropoff last week and around half off the 225,000 average for 2017 so far, so the mystery tag partner gimmick for The Miz probably helped stave off an even bigger dropoff. The post-Superstar Shake-up booking has been confusing with some wrestlers still part of their old shows or feuding with wrestlers on different brands – Bray Wyatt-Randy Orton, Kevin Owens-Chris Jericho. The lack of Roman Reigns, the top pushed babyface, could contribute also to a dropoff.