WWE Raw ratings dip from last week’s surge after return to arenas with fans – key metrics, demographics, historical perspective

The July 26 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network drew a 1.32 rating, down from the 1.46 last week in its first show back in an arena with thousands of fans in attendance. Raw drew 1.20 the prior week and averaged 1.24 in May and June.

So this week’s rating is still above the recent prior ratings for Raw in the ThunderDome, but a similar dropoff next week would bring it right back to ThunderDome era levels. Raw went up against the highly-rated Olympics this week, so a ratings dropoff was anticipated this week.

One year ago Raw drew a 1.20 rating.

In the coveted 18-49 demographic, Raw drew a 0.49 rating, down from 0.57 last week. It drew 0.43 its final week in the ThunderDome and it averaged 0.48 in May and June. Raw was no. 1 among all shows on cable on Monday night in the 18-49 demographic.

In the male 18-49 demo, it drew 0.67, down from 0.75 the prior week. It averaged 0.61 in May and June.

In the male 18-34 demo, it held more steady with a 0.40 rating this week compared to 0.41 last week. It averaged 0.35 in May and June.

In terms of hourly total viewership, Raw drew 1.871 million viewers in the first hour, dropped slightly to 1.839 million in the second hour, and then dropped to 1.733 million in the third hour. The third hour this week was down 134,000 compared to the prior week’s third hour rating, but 223,000 above the third hour rating for the final ThunderDome-based Raw two weeks earlier. However, the third hour of Raw, in the Thunderdome, drew better viewership numbers twice in May than this week’s third hour.

Again, though, the Olympics competition makes it tough to gauge whether this indicates Raw had a one-week surge that will dissipate permanently, or if Raw will rebound again after Olympic coverage is over.