Raw Rating Report: Goldberg delivers again as Raw outdraws December and Fall 2016 average to start 2017 (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Monday’s episode of Raw drew a 2.09 rating, the biggest rating since Nov. 28. The show opened with a slightly lower than average first hour rating, but with the promise of Goldberg late in the show, the dropoff from the first to the third hour was the lowest in the last ten weeks, just 103,000.

The ten week rolling average for Raw headed into this week was 2.02. The Fall 2016 average was 2.00.

A year ago, Raw drew a 2.49 to start 2016.

Keller’s Analysis: Last week’s Smackdown drew a 2.02 rating, and it’s unlikely to top that this week without the strength of John Cena’s return to TV and A.J. Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler main event, so perhaps due to the timing of Goldberg’s return to TV, the streak of wins for Smackdown probably will end. That said, there’s a sliver of a chance Smackdown, with Cena on this week’s show and the hype for the Miz vs. Dean Ambrose IC Title match, Smackdown could rise to a 2.09 or better rating. Considering Raw’s rating is down 16 percent from last year to start the year, I’d say 16 percent of WWE fans a year ago did “STFU” and stopped “whining and bitching” and instead decided to “boycott” Raw. Based on what Paul Heyman said on “Bring it to the Table,” is WWE happier with the 16 percent who stopped watching or would they rather those fans were still watching, but expressing (i.e. “bitching and moaning”) how they think Raw could be better?