Raw Rating: Comparisons to past years, cable ranking compared to ESPN’s NFL game, what other shows beat Raw in key ratings measurements

The Sept. 16 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw drew a 1.64 rating among live and same-night-DVR viewers, down from last week’s 1.71 and the lowest rating since June 17. It’s the second week up against Monday Night Football, but last week WWE advertised the return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and held the show in the historic Madison Square Garden.

The first hour drew 2.417 million viewers, the second hour 2.319, and the third hour 2.079, with a first-to-third hour drop-off of 338,000, a little more than the average this year of 308,000. One year ago Raw drew a 1.79 rating, which was the lowest rating since early July that year. Two years ago, Raw drew a 1.93 rating, the lowest since the first episode of July. So this week it’s typical for one of the lowest ratings of the year. Coming the day after a PPV, it probably got a small boost over what it would have otherwise drawn.

Raw’s three hours finished in positions 5, 6, and 7 in the cable rankings of 18-49 year old viewers, behind not only ESPN’s NFL game along with the pre-show and post-show, but also “90 Day Fiance” Other Way” on TLC, which drew 2.673 million viewers, beating each hour of Raw, and a 0.8 rating in the key 18-49 demo, tied with Raws first and second hour. The third hour dropped to a 0.6 key demo rating. The NFL game, by comparison, drew a 4.1 rating in the key demo. The NFL pre-show drew a 2.0 key demo rating. Two programs on Fox News outdrew Raw in total viewers.