Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/16/raw-posts-an-increase-of-4-3-following-extreme-rules/
Photo courtesy: WWE
Monday’s episode of Raw saw the show increase by 4.3% from last week and had a rare instance where the first hour was the lowest of the three.
The show averaged 2,453,000 viewers on the USA Network and was Raw’s fifth-highest average since WrestleMania in April.
The show began with 2,379,000 viewers, which was in line with how the show typically starts off. But this week saw the show increase by 5% in the second hour to 2,503,000 viewers. The show dropped 1% in the third hour to 2,478,000 viewers. Instead of the usual drop throughout the show, the audience increased by 4.1% from the first-to-third hour.
It is rare that the first hour is the least-watched, although the same trend occurred on June 3rd this year for an episode built around Brock Lesnar cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase, which they didn’t deliver on.
In 2019, the average bump Raw has received following a pay-per-view is 7.6% from the prior week, so this week’s show was below that.
The year-to-year decline from 2018 is 14%. It’s worth adding that Raw from this week in 2018 also went against the Home Run Derby, so there was added competition last year.
Next week’s Raw Reunion from Tampa will be one of the biggest audiences of 2019 with tons of names returning, including Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. So far, the most-watched episode of Raw this year was from the night after WrestleMania with 2,924,000 viewers that night.