Raw Rating: Heavily-hyped Edge return appears to have buoyed third hour to higher than usual level, key metrics, cable ranking for the night

WWE Monday Night Raw last night (March 9) drew a 1.59 cable rating, down from last week’s 1.64 rating. It’s a notch below the 1.63 ten-week rolling average heading into this week.

In a rare occurrence, the show’s third hour outdrew the show’s first hour. Viewership by hour was as follows: 2.157 million, 2.109 million, 2.222 million.

That would be indicative of the Edge appearance at the top of the third hour drawing an atypical surge at the top of the third hour. That was followed by Aleister Black vs. Seth Rollins which converted into an eight-man tag match, filling out the majority of the third hour.

Raw =’s viewership in the 18-49 demographic was strong enough to finish in positions 1, 2, and 3 for the night in all of cable. It was ahead of the nearest competition (“Love & Hip Hop” on VH1″) by a wide margin (0.71 to 0.44).

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