Raw Ratings Report: Ominous sign of eroding interest in crowd-free episodes of Raw, key metrics and perspective on some big drop-offs

The March 23 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network drew a 1.47 rating, an ominous sign of perhaps diminishing interested in the crowd-free format of WWE programs. It’s down from last week’s 1.66, which was above the 1.62 average for 2020 so far. The 1.47 rating last night is the lowest rating since December 23, 2019. The prior lower rating was Nov. 11.

The hourly viewership began at 2.289 million, dropped to 2.044 million in the second hour, and then collapsed to 1.726 in the third hour.

The third hour began with the Shayna Baszler sit-down mid-ring interview with Charly Caruso and also included the replay of the Asuka vs. Charlotte match from WrestleMania two years ago and closed with Randy Orton responding to Edge with a live promo. It also included an Aleister Black squash match and a long Seth Rollins-Kevin Owens talking segment.

Raw’s third hour dipped below 1.7 million viewers on Dec. 23 last year. Only one other time in Raw history has an hour of Raw dipped below 1.8 million viewers.

In the target demographic of 18-49 year olds, Raw’s hours finishes no. 3, no. 8, and no. 10, the lowest Raw has finished among cable competitors, although the only shows that finished ahead of Raw were cable news programs and “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” on VH1.

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