Raw Rating: Viewership up to highest level since April day after Money in the Bank, key metrics for perspective, where Raw ranks in cable’s top ten

Last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw (6/18) drew a 1.97 rating among live and same-night-DVR viewers USA Network. The rating bumped up to the highest since Apr. 30 coming the day after a newsworthy Money in the Bank. The monthly average so far in June is 187, above the 1.86 average in May but still well below the 2.33, 2.22, 2.18, and 2.29 averages from April back to January this year.

The ten-week rolling average is 1.97. The 2018 average so far is 2.15.

The show drew 3.001 million viewers in the first hour, the first time WWE Raw has topped 3 million since the Apr. 30 episode. From there it dropped slightly to a 2.975 in the second hour and again in the third hour down to 2.734. The first-to-third hour dropoff was 267,000, below average for the year, but higher than the previous two weeks.

Among the coveted target demo of 18-49 year old adults, Raw finished in spots no. 2, 3, and 4. “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta” on VH1 finished first, although Raw had more overall viewers (Raw’s first hour drew 2.975 total viewers compared to 2.100 million for “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta”). FIFA World Cup GS L on Fox Sports finished no. 5, but with about one-third fewer viewers. “Hannity” on Fox and “Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC were among shows that had more viewers than Raw (3.402 million and 2.860 million respectively), but it skewed older and thus they finished lower in the cable rankings in the 18-49 adult demo. “Hannity” on Fox was the only cable show last night with more viewers than Raw’s first and second hours.

On another ratings note, for the week of June 4-10 in cable ratings, the three hours of the June 4 Raw finished in the no. 3, 4, and 6 slots in cable TV in the coveted target demo of 18-49 year old adults, behind only “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” on VH1 and Jersey Shore Family Vacation on MTV. Basketball Wives landed in the no. 5 spot. Rounding out the top ten for the week was “Fear the Walking Dead” on AMC, Teen Mom II on MTV, WWE Smackdown (no. 9), and Live PD on A&E.

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