Raw on Monday averaged 1.70 million viewers and drew a 0.52 rating in 18-49, which I'd call good numbers considering the competition from college football.
ESPN had the Duke vs. Clemson game that did 4.39 million viewers and a 1.32, but it should be noted that Charter subscribers, which are about 20 percent of the cable universe, had the game blacked out and thus in those homes it was not competition for Raw.
USA was second behind ESPN on cable and beat all network programming.
Raw was up two percent in viewership from last week even with tougher competition, up 0.3 percent in 18-49, and up seven percent in 18-34.
Given the show was on Labor Day, it would be expected to do a higher second hour than first, which didn't happen as the two numbers were almost identical with 8,000 more watching hour one. The third hour decline, built around Gunther trying to break the IC title record in a match with Chad Gable, was at usual levels.
The episode was down from the same week in 2022, and most comparisons to a year ago for Raw have been very favorable for growth, particularly with younger viewers.
It was down 17 percent year-over-year with viewers, down 11 percent in 18-49, and down 22 percent in 18-34. When you factor in the decline in homes on cable, the 18-49 number wasn't that different from last year but total viewers would be down 12 percent. Last year also went against college football on ESPN that was available in virtually every home that had Raw, but also overall was not quite as big of a game.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 1.59 million viewers
Show of hands everybody, who here wants this?
