Originally published at Against the NCAA final, WWE Raw stays flat with viewers while demo falls
For the go-home edition of Raw before WrestleMania, the show sustained a decline in its main demo while still finishing atop the cable charts.
Raw had large competition with the NCAA basketball final between Baylor and Gonzaga that attracted nearly 17 million viewers for the game against the second half of Raw and was preceded by pre-game coverage on CBS.
WWE Raw finished with 1,701,000 viewers and a 0.52 in the 18-49 demographic. It was an identical viewership average with last week’s number, which was Raw’s lowest audience of 2021. The 18-49 drop was 9 percent but still well ahead of anything else on cable Monday.
After a week where Raw, NXT, and Friday Night SmackDown all performed well in the 18-34 demo, Raw dropped over 28 percent in the category and equalling the March 22nd show for its lowest 18-34 number of the year with a 0.25.
The other audiences to showcase double-digit declines were men 18-49 and 12-34, as well as women 12-34. The basketball game is a legitimate reason to assign blame to the younger demo declines, and next week’s Raw should see notable interest following WrestleMania where it will likely be among the most-watched episodes of the year, if not the highest.
Monday’s episode also ended the pattern of growth throughout the show in the key demo, which has occurred over the previous three episodes. This week saw a show-long decline of 7.4 percent in the 18-49 demo and 7.7 percent in viewership. The largest first-to-third hour loss was seen among women 12-34 falling by 26 percent and women 18-49 dropping by 20.5 percent.
Last week, seven of the eight key demos measured on Showbuzz Daily displayed increases in the third hour, this week saw declines across the board except for males 18-49 that were flat from start-to-finish.
The combination of the night after WrestleMania and avoiding the NCAA basketball final should lead to a strong number next week. In 2021, the most-watched episode of Raw was the Legends Night show on January 4th that did 2,128,000 viewers and a 0.68 in the 18-49 demographic. No other episode of Raw has topped two million viewers this year.
In Canada, Raw averaged 227,200 viewers and 133,800 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360.
Here is a breakdown of the key demos from Showbuzz Daily:
ADULTS 18-49
This week: 0.52 (-9 percent)
Hour 1-3: -7.4 percent
FEMALES 18-49
This week: 0.39 (+3 percent)
Hour 1-3: -20.5 percent
MALES 18-49
This week: 0.64 (-12 percent)
Hour 1-3: Even
ADULTS 18-34
This week: 0.25 (-28.5 percent)
Hour 1-3: -11 percent
FEMALES 12-34
This week: 0.23 (-11.5 percent)
Hour 1-3: -26 percent
MALES 12-34
This week: 0.31 (-14 percent)
Hour 1-3: -15 percent
ADULTS 25-54
This week: 0.61 (-9 percent)
Hour 1-3: -8 percent
ADULTS 50+
This week: 0.79 (+3 percent)
Hour 1-3: -4 percent