SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network last night rebounded with a 2.04 rating among live and same night DVR viewers. That number is above the ten-week rolling average headed into the week of 1.99 but below the 2017 average headed into this week of 2.13.
Viewership started a 3.075 million in the first hour, grew to 3.201 million in the second hour, and settled at 3.029 million in the third hour. That’s a drop-off of only 46,000 viewers from the first hour to the third hour. That is well below the 232,000 average for the year so far, so this week held the audience much better than usual.
This week’s rating is well below the 2.44 rating from one year ago this week. That’s a 20 percent drop.
Keller’s Analysis: They can’t deliver Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe and the payoff of a big mystery angle every week, but this week that seemed to pay off well. They’re out of the “panic zone” and back in the “where did everybody go compared to last year?” zone.
The change in ratings pattern also endorses the experiment they tried this week in putting the “main event” match at the end of the second hour instead of the end of the third hour, so expect that to continue.
It makes a lot of sense, actually. The ratings always fall of for the third hour. It’s a lot of show to sit through, and younger viewers especially probably have to turn off or get worn out before the end. Yet it’s the end of the third hour that usually has the big match, the performers that the WWE most wants fans seeing. Instead, they’re putting those top performers out there at the point of the show with the most fans still watching.
That the 3rd hour this week did not fall off so much is interesting, and hard to say whether it is because fans stuck around after being entertained by Roman v Joe (and Braun) or out of interest in the reveal of the Enzo and Cass storyline, or some of each.