WWE Raw draws second lowest viewership in show history

[Big Red Machine]

https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/wwe- ... ory-314986

By Dave Meltzer | @davemeltzerWON | Jul 8, 2020 11:16 am

Raw on Monday did the second lowest audience number in modern history as well as tied for the second lowest in the main demo.

The show did 1.69 million viewers, beating only the May 4 episode that did 1.68 million viewers. The 0.49 rating in 18-49 tied episodes on June 9 and June 30 for second place behind the May 4 Raw that did a 0.46.

The total audience dropped three percent from last week, but stayed even in 18-49. The good news is that the first-to-third hour drop was 5.0 percent, much lower than usual, but that wasn't the key. That was due to a strong hour two. The first hour was the lowest hour one in modern history. The second hour increased greatly and hour three dropped.

The key things in hour two were Rey Mysterio & Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins & Murphy and Ricochet & Cedric Alexander vs. MVP & Bobby Lashley, as most of the Randy Orton, Andrade & Angel Garza vs. Big Show & Viking Raiders match was in hour three.

The real story is that people tuned into the show late. This pattern used to be fairly regular in the summer months but has rarely happened this year. It could be holiday related.

Titan Games featuring Dwayne Johnson did 3.85 million viewers and a 0.7 in 18-49. It was first in network television and second overall in 18-49. It was second in network television and third overall in total viewers, but it should be pointed out the rival networks all had rerun programming. The rerun of The Neighborhood and two FOX News shows beat it in the total viewer category.

Raw was 21st overall on cable, but fourth among non-news shows. In 18-49, Raw was fourth overall. Raw was first on cable in men 18-49 and teenage boys. In hour three, Raw dropped across the board.

In looking at the key first-to-second hour increase, because it was hour two that saved the show from all-time record lows, there was a 10 percent increase in women 18-49, a three percent increase in men 18-49, a 19 percent drop in teenage girls, a five percent drop in teenage boys, and one percent increase in over 50, so it was women 18-49 who really saved the show from record lows.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 1.70 million
9 p.m. 1.75 million
10 p.m. 1.61 million

For a comparison, the May 4 record low pattern was:

8 p.m. 1.81 million
9 p.m. 1.69 million
10 p.m. 1.55 million