In proof that the guest host ratings bump is about crossover demographic appeal rather than just Hollywood name value, the Jeremy Piven-hosted edition of RAW did not post a number in line with last week’s Shaq edition.
Piven and “Dr. Ken” Jeong led the show to a 3.6 rating, down from last week’s 4.0. According to PWInsider, the hours were 3.51 and 3.60.
While the rating itself is above the 3.5 drawn by the Seth Green and ZZ Top editions, this week’s show did a lower second hour than those did. That fact indicates that while Piven’s name might have created a slightly bigger bump at the onset, the way the show progressed did not excite the audience.
The news was not all bad–WWE did beat the return of “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” which drew 4.2 million total viewers with a 3.1 rating (according to PWInsider.com).
