WWE Raw falls to lowest viewership on USA Network since July 2021

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Originally published at WWE Raw falls to lowest viewership on USA Network since July 2021

WWE Raw had a rough week with one of its lowest viewership totals on the USA Network.

The December 12th edition of the show from Milwaukee averaged 1,472,000 viewers and approximately 483,000 viewers (0.37) in the 18-49 demographic, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.

It was Raw’s lowest viewership on the USA Network since July 5, 2021, which averaged the same viewership. 

The show included the least-watched first hour for an episode of the show on the USA Network (there was a lower opening hour on the Feb. 7, 2022, edition that aired on Syfy) with 1,482,000 viewers and 0.38 among the 18-49 demographic.

The second hour saw a slight increase to 1,547,000 viewers while staying at 0.38 in the demo and fell in the third hour to 1,388,000 viewers and 0.35 featuring the main event between Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins.

The overall audience declined by 4% while the key demo audience was down by 10% from last week as Raw finished seventh among cable originals on Monday. In the 18-49 demo, males and females dropped 9% from last week. The show was also down 15% among adults 35-49.

Adults 18-34 were steady from last week and had a 4% increase throughout the show.

From start to finish, the show fell 6% in viewers and 8% among 18-49, which is lower than in recent weeks due to the performance of the first hour and having a smaller decline throughout the three-hour program.

The show aired against the Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals, which averaged 9.12 million viewers and 2.47 among the 18-49 demo with the Manning Cast on ESPN 2 averaging 1.13 million and 0.42 in the demo.

In Canada, the show averaged 227,200 viewers and 104,200 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360 with overall viewership rising 25.5% from last week and the demo increasing by 32% from last week. It was the most-watched episode of Raw in the country since Halloween night and ranked fourth among sports programs on Monday.

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There’s not a lot happening on the show besides long matches. Damage Control is a flop, whatever Gargano is doing is the worst thing on wrestling television and there is nothing being built to. Horrible stuff.

At least with Vince in charge it was so bad it was funny, this is just boring.

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And this could also be the argument Vince makes to the board when justifying his return. TV ratings down? Vince will fix it!

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It’s an unenviable spot to be trying to slow build to a PLE that might as well be a lifetime away while also trying to put up a good rating every week. What I don’t understand is that they’re not failing at ONE of those things… they don’t really seem to be trying to do either. Raw is directionless.

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It’s almost like he waited for the inevitable ratings decline against Football to plot a return. Gonna throw Hunter under the MNF bus like past Fall Champions he decided weren’t draws in the toughest time of the year to draw. Seems so well plotted.

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“The ratings are back to being as low as they were when I was in charge…” would be a weird way to try to get his job back.

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I mean, so is responding to additional allegations of sexual misconduct with a declaration that he wants to return to work. But Vince seems to do what Vince does…

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***They are worse than when I left and yr/yr. Actually Raw hit an all time low. They NEED him back. (as barked by Vince’s dog, probably)

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It’s just like when AEW hit a low a few weeks back, it’s one rating and it’s at a time where football is at an absolute high. People freak out over ratings for nothing.

God help us though if Vince comes back.

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RAW is a tough watch. It will pick up around the Rumble. Smackdown is a good show

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I would bet money that if they cut the third hour, the average audience for hour 1 and 2 would go up significantly, as would the quality of the show. IMO, a 2 hour Raw has no Dexter/Miz storyline.

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Yup. Always been the problem - 3 hours is too much

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