Raw viewership increases for the post-Summerslam episode, but below the year-ago number, key metrics and perspective

The post-Summerslam episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network (8/23) drew a 1.43 rating, up from the 1.37 last week. It’s the fourth-highest rating of 2021. One year ago this week, Raw the day after Summerslam, in the midst of the pandemic, drew a 1.53 rating for the premiere episode of Raw in the ThunderDome.

The ten-week rolling average for Raw is 1.30. One year ago, the ten-week rolling average was 1.27.

In the adult 18-49 demographic, Raw drew a 0.64 rating, up from last week’s 0.55 and the first demo rating above 0.60 since April. Raw finished in positions 2, 3, and 4 in the 18-49 demo behind an NFL preseason game on ESPN.

In the male 18-49 demo, it drew a 0.84, up from last week’s 0.70. In the male 18-34 demo, it drew a 0.49, up from last week’s 0.40.

In terms of viewership, it opened with 2.152 million viewers, the first viewership above 2 million since the Apr. 19 episode. It stayed above 2 million in the second hour with 2.094 million viewers before dropping to 1.956 in the third hour. The first-to-third hour dropoff was 196,000, higher than the yearly average of 151,000. The RKBro celebration was the main hook hyped throughout Raw to hold viewers’ interest, as they didn’t announce a main event otherwise head of time (A.J. Styles vs. Matt Riddle ended up being the main event).