SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The Jan. 21 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network drew a 1.73 rating, a surprising drop from last week’s 1.89 rating. The 1.73 this week is actually lower than the last time Raw went up against a regular season NFL Monday Night Football game on ESPN; on Dec. 17 the show drew a 1.74 rating, higher than this show unopposed by the NFL.
Last January Raw averaged a 2.29. This month it’s averaging 1.75.
Even more concerning might be the hourly trend. The show opened with 2.840 million viewers, the highest opening hour viewership since Sept. 10. The second hour dropped to 2.403 million, one of the biggest first-to-second hour drop-offs for Raw in a long time. Then the third hour dropped to 2.143 million. That is a first-to-third hour drop-off of 697,000 viewers, the biggest drop-off since Feb. 19 last year.
The first hour was loaded with Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Finn Balor, and Braun Strowman. The second hour was anchored by Seth Rollins with an in-ring promo and a Seth vs. Drew McIntyre match.
The third hour was built around “A Moment of Bliss” at the start and the Ronda Rousey tag team match at the end of the third hour. If there was concern that Vince McMahon might prescribe blame for a ratings drop-off to the Women’s Division getting pushed more, this week’s viewership drop-off adds to that argument. The push-back against that would be that the NBA pulled some viewers away in that third hour for the start of the Lakers-Warriors game, although that didn’t begin until there were only 22 minutes left in the third hour of Raw.
Despite the ratings drop for WWE, the first hour of Raw tied for the top rated show on cable on Monday night with 1.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic according to TVByTheNumbers.com. The NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors drew a 1.0 rating, too. In total viewership, Raw drew 2.840 million viewers, more than the NBA’s 2.467 million viewers. Raw’s second hour finished no. 3 in that key demo and the third hour finished no. 5, behind the NBA’s Houston Rockets vs. Philadelphia 76ers game.
Gasp. You mean Roid Assner wasn’t a major draw like WWE & their idiot apologists all say he is? Pshaw! Pshaw I say!
LMAO!!