Raw Rating: Did viewership rebound day after Great Balls of Fire after Fourth of July Weekend drop? (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Last night’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network drew a 2.04 rating among those watching live or same night DVR, according to Nielsen Media Research. This is an increase over last week’s holiday weekend (July 3) rating of 1.91, and right in line with the 2.02 and 2.04 rating the two prior weeks.

The 2017 average is now 2.11. The average a year ago to this point was 2.42. That’s a dropoff of 13 percent.

The ten week rolling average headed into this week was 1.92, so the day after Great Balls of Fire improved upon the post Superstar Shakeup/WrestleMania season.

The first hour drew 3.05 million viewers. It grew to 3.07 million in the second hour. It dropped to 2.91 in the third hour. The dropoff from the first hour to the third hour was 144,000, below the yearly average of a 232,000 dropoff. The male 18-49 demo rating this week was 1.19, below the 1.39 one year ago, a drop of 0.20. The overall 18-49 demo this week was 0.98, down from 1.10 a year ago, or a dropoff of 0.12. The overall 18-34 demo was 0.95 this week, down from 1.19 a year ago, a drop of 0.24. So both younger men and women are leaving Raw in big numbers, but older women (relatively speaking) within the core 18-49 demographic which advertisers and USA Network covet are holding more steady than men, which is somewhat helping to offset the drop among the older males in the core advertising demo.

Keller’s Analysis: If WWE hadn’t gone back above 2.00 after last week’s holiday weekend dropoff, that would have been bad. Only returning to the same place they were before the holiday weekend, despite coming a day after a red-hot PPV is a bit of a disappointment. Next week’s show with the Kurt Angle teaser and a huge Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe match with major Summerslam ramifications should lead to a rise above 2.1 and perhaps the highest rating since the Apr. 26 rating of 2.26.