By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Monday’s WWE Raw television show averaged 1.979 million viewers for USA Network, according to Showbuzzdaily.com. Viewership was up from the 1.769 million average from last week. Raw delivered a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demographic, up from last week’s 0.50 rating.
Powell’s POV: Very good numbers for the brand’s WrestleMania go-home show despite a dip for the third hour. The first hour of Monday’s Raw averaged 2.052 million viewers. Hour two drew 2.100 million viewers. The final hour of the show averaged 1.786 million viewers. The three hours of Raw finished second, first, and third respectively in the 18-49 demographic in Monday’s cable ratings. The March 29, 2021 edition of Raw delivered 1.701 million viewers and a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Last year’s WrestleMania go-home show aired on April 5 and delivered 1.701 million viewers and a 0.52 rating.
Very good episode and it brought in the best ratings in a while.
Comparing the viewership to the pre-pandemic 2019 go home show, viewership for 2022 is down over 600k (3-hour average), a 25% decline from 2022.
This decline is more than the secular decline in cable subscribers.
I, too, can cherry pick random numbers to push a moronic agenda.
Here’s some fun for you.
In 2020 cable/satellite lost 4.87 million subscribers.
In 2021 cable/satellite lost 4.69 million subscribers.
In those two years streaming live TV (Hulu, YouTube TV, etc) gained 915,000 in 2020, and 895,000 in 2021.
That’s a net loss of 7.75 million people with access to the USA network in two years. If 600k of that are Raw viewers, that’s not a bad deal.