Rare occurrence in viewership on Monday’s episode of Raw, ranking of Raw compared to NHL in key demo, other key metrics

The June 21 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw drew a 1.24 rating, down from 1.29 last week and a notch below the rolling ten-week average headed into this week of 1.27. In the 18-49 demo, it drew a 0.49, the same as last week. It was good enough to land them no. 1 overall on cable TV on Monday night, ahead of no. 2 ranked NHL playoffs that drew a 0.40 rating.

The first hour drew 1.677 million viewers, the second hour drew 1.788 million, and the third hour drew 1.694 million. It was a rare occurrence of the third hour outdrawing the first hour, in this case by 17,000. That happened three weeks ago with a 50,000 increase. That has only happened those two times this year and only once last year.

The third hour has drawn an average of 157,000 fewer viewers than the first hour this year, so the Hell in a Cell match with Bobby Lashley and Xavier Woods made a big difference. It shows that what you put on as the main event of a TV show can change the course retaining viewership, and it’s why persistently promoting a big match well throughout the three hours can cause more viewers to stay tuned who might otherwise stray to other programming.

In the male 18-49 demographic, they drew 0.64, the same as last week. In the more narrow 18-34 male demo, they drew a 0.33 rating, down from last week’s 0.40.