Raw last night started unusually low but recovered well, doing 1.76 million viewers and a 0.55 rating in 18-49. It was the lowest viewership number since June 12, which was the episode that went head-to-head with the final game of the NBA playoffs.
The low start meant the first and third hours had identical viewership and for the first time I can recall in a long time, the first quarter at 1.59 million viewers was the low point of the entire show.
Rankings for the day are unavailable at press time.
The show would be expected to be down from last week, given last Monday was the Raw after SummerSlam.
The drop from last week was seven percent in viewers, 10 percent in 18-49, and seven percent in 18-34, which would be drops along the lines of what one would expect.
However, the difference in the make-up of viewership from one year ago was notable. While down 11 percent in total viewers, that was largely due to a decline in viewers over 50. The 18-49 demo was up four percent and 18-34 was up 42 percent from the same week last year.
When you factor in the losses of cable homes over the past year, you would still have a six percent drop in total viewers. It has been very rare that total viewers from this year were down over the same week last year. But with the younger audience, the numbers are still way up, as factoring that in you get a 14 percent increase in 18-49 and a 57 percent increase in 18-34.
All things considered based on the patterns, the Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor main event was strong in keeping the viewership until the end of the show. But that's also attributable to people starting watching the episode late, meaning that they are more likely to stay with the show longer.
The three hours were
- 8 p.m. 1.73 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 1.82 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 1.73 million viewers