SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Last night’s (May 7) episode of WWE Raw on USA Network drew a 1.94 rating, the first sub-2.0 rating since the 1.92 on Jan. 8. There were 15 out of 18 weeks in the span ending Jan. 8 where ratings were below 2.00, corresponding to football competition in the fall and winter.
The 1.94 last night still beat the year-ago rating of 1.90, but as usual fell short of the two-years-ago rating of 2.26.
The ten-week rolling average headed into this week was 2.28. The 2018 average is currently 2.24.
The first hour drew 2,788,000 viewers, then dropped slightly to 2,731,000 and then the usual dropoff in the third hour to 2,549,000. The first-to-third hour dropoff was 239,000, well below the 409,000 average so far this year.
The advertised main event was Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor for a Money in the Bank spot.
The NBA is part of the reason for the dropoff this week. The two NBA playoff games last night topped Monday cable ratings in the adult 18-49 demo. Raw finished 5 in the cable ratings behind both NBA games, the NBA post-show, and “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta.” The NHL playoff games followed right behind Raw in the rankings.
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: Raw Ratings Report: Viewership and key metrics including hourly trends, comparisons to past years, 2018 average
Wade writes: “… the first sun.2000 rating …”
Obviously a type, as “sun.2000” looks like an astrometric term, not something one finds in a pro-wrestling review.
More importantly, while you are concentrated on a single rating number, I propose more important metrics are the in-demo ratings. In the young female demographic, Raw yesterday never even got to .5 in that demo. The so-called women’s revolution isn’t drawing in the young females.
NBA is part of the reason for the low rating?
No, the fact that it was a horrible show is part of the reason.
There’s always an excuse made when RAW has bad ratings. No matter what is on the other channels, if RAW is good enough, people will watch it.
There is always an excuse for a drop off in the ratings. The ratings have been down for a very long time. The product is not very good in the opinion of many people. That is why the ratings are down.
Love and Hip Hop Atlanta? No idea what that is. Did the Woody Woodpecker cartoons cut into the ratings too? It won’t be long and the excuse will be Monday Night Football. Give us a better product and many won’t change the channel.