Monday’s WWE RAW rating and viewership numbers stayed down from the RAW 1000 peak as monstrous competition from NBC’s Olympics coverage continued to play a factor.
Though the Olympics broadcast was down from last week’s performance, it still dominated the airwaves, and RAW faced an uphill battle attracting viewers. Its three hours averaged a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating, which was roughly in line with last week’s rating, although viewership was down slightly to 4.367 million.
Notable is the drop-off from hour two to three; the 9PM portion garnered a 1.6 with 4.648M viewers, while 10PM fell to 1.5 with 4.446 million.
That kind of trajectory is never good, especially since RAW stacked the last hour with the Brock Lesnar/Shawn Michaels/Triple H segments and the main-event, but given the fact that the most appealing Olympics events came late in the broadcast–the ratings reflect significantly more Olympics interest in the 10PM hour–it should not automatically be written off as a condemnation of the broadcast.
Three-hour RAW episodes have always delivered weaker numbers in the 8PM hour, and that has typically been attributed to lack of awareness about the start time. As RAW solidifies its permanent scheduling position at 8PM, that excuse will become less believable, so if the trend continues, it is likely there are other factors (including lower overall television audience levels) at play.
