Raw’s viewership hit by NFL’s season opener, yet shows improvement compared to 2023
Summary
– WWE Raw drew 1.43 million viewers and a 0.45 rating in the 18-49 demographic, the lowest since January.
– The NFL’s opening Monday Night Football game caused a 20% drop in both viewers and the key demo.
– Despite the decline, Raw’s numbers were up 5% in viewers and 14% in 18-49 from last year’s week.
WWE Raw experienced a significant drop in viewership last night, which was expected due to competition from the NFL’s first Monday Night Football game of the season. Raw averaged 1.43 million viewers and earned a 0.45 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. Both figures mark the lowest the show has seen since going head-to-head with the NFL playoffs in January.
Although the NFL’s opening game is often more impactful than others, the matchup between the 49ers and Jets likely caused Raw to lose around 20% of its viewership and a similar drop in the key demographic. This suggests that the current WWE audience has more crossover with NFL viewers than in previous years, where that overlap was closer to 10%.
Compared to the episode from two weeks ago, which aired just before football season began, Raw was down 13% in overall viewers and 8% in the 18-49 demographic. However, the numbers are still better than last year’s NFL opening game, with viewership up by 5% and the demo up by 14% from the same week in 2023. Factoring in homes lost, WWE is showing a 12% gain in viewers and a 20% increase in the 18-49 demo compared to last year, reflecting a positive trend for WWE on USA Network.
