Raw viewership dips again including one of lowest third hours ever, key metrics, demo trends, historical context

The May 24 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw drew a 1.20 cable household rating, down from a 1.35 last week and the lowest since it drew the same rating on March 29, according to our TV industry source. Only twice in history has Raw drawn a lower rating, according to our records and recall.

One year ago this week, in the midst of the Pandemic Performance Center era of WWF television, Raw drew a 1.30 rating. Two years ago this week, Raw drew a 10.61 rating and three years ago it drew a 1.70 rating.

Viewership opened at 1.655, one of the lowest first-hour viewership numbers of all-time for Raw. Raw’s first hour drew 1.627 million on Dec. 14, 2020, 1.303 million on Oct. 5, 2020, and 1.580 on July 13, 2020.

Viewership dropped slightly to 1.655 million in the second hour and dropped more to 1.546 million in the third hour. The first-to-third hour dropoff was 115,000. The average first-to-third hour dropoff this year heading into this week was 178,000. Despite not advertising a main event match throughout the show and concluding with a women’s WWE Tag Team Title match, the viewership didn’t drop more than usual.

In the main core 18-49 demo, Raw drew a 0.45 rating, down from an 0.48 last week and 0.53 the prior two weeks. The demo rating was above 0.60 the prior two weeks following WrestleMania.

In the male 18-49 demo, Raw drew a 0.57, down from 0.60, 0.70, and 0.62 the prior three weeks. The younger male demo, 18-34, did better at 0.28 compared to 0.23 last week, but still well belwo the prior two weeks of 0.39 and 0.39.

WWE is hoping for a rebound in viewership once they return to having live crowds in arenas for live TV shows. In our online Twitter poll this week, 49 percent of respondents said they plan to watch more TV wrestling once live crowds return to the venues.

Are you more likely to watch pro wrestling on TV more often once live crowds are filling arenas again for the live shows?

— Pro Wrestling Torch (@PWTorch) May 26, 2021