Raw viewership gives mixed indications post-Olympic coverage, cable ranking and demo details, comparisons so far in arenas vs. ThunderDome

Last night’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw drew a 1.36 rating, up from last week’s 1.33 and above the ten-week rolling average of 1.27. In the key 18-49 demographic, it drew a 0.49 rating, down from last week’s 0.51 and tied with 0.49 from two weeks ago. It ranked no. 1 among all cable shows in that key demo.

The first hour drew 1.840 million viewers (down from 1.928 million last week). The second hour drew 1.863 million viewers (up from 1.809 million last week). The third hour drew 1.669 million (down from 1.725 million last week). The first-to-third hour dropoff was 171,000, more than the 151,000 average for 2021 so far, but below last week’s 203,000 dropoff.

Overall, without Olympic competition this week, Raw viewership didn’t change much. The overall rating was up an insignificant degree, the viewership started lower and ended lower, but held more steady in the middle. The 18-49 demo rating was down slightly, as was the male 18-49 and 18-34 demographics despite the overall rating up a notch. That could indicate that older Raw viewers were drawn to the Olympics and returned this week, while the younger viewers weren’t watching the Olympics and just were less interested this week by a small margin. The steady rating throughout could be a testament to viewers curious about the fate of Randy Orton and Riddle as a team.

Raw isn’t drawing much above where they were in the final weeks of the ThunderDome era. The four week average back in live buildings is 1.37 compared to the prior four weeks in the ThunderDome which was 1.17. If the first week back in front of fans is excluded (which included John Cena and the buzz of the first show back leading to a 1.46 rating, the second-highest of the year), Raw’s average the last three weeks was 1.34. The yearly average in ThunderDome from Jan. 4 through July 12 was 1.28.