WWE and USA Network will have a very difficult time spinning this week’s RAW rating into a relative positive.
Despite serving as the follow-up to last Monday’s surprise, splash return of former WWE and UFC Champion Brock Lesnar, RAW only delivered a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating, down 15% from the prior week’s show. Viewership was down to 4.3 million.
While last week’s show benefited uniquely as the post-WrestleMania edition of RAW, it also had to deal with competition from the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. This week’s episode, which should have been nearly as buzzworthy due to Lesnar’s return, did not have to face such daunting sports competition.
Particular alarm should come from the opening hour, which generated only a 1.6 and 4.23 million (in comparison to a 1.7 and 4.34 million for the second portion). Though WWE does like to see an audience spike for hour two, this week’s show should have started quite strong due to the Lesnar buzz. It is likely the first quarter hour did well relative to the rest of the show, but it clearly was not the smash hit the industry expected.
