Last night’s episode of Raw returned to its normal ratings after the huge numbers it garnered last week, with an average of 1.82 million viewers and a 0.59 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The show was the highest-rated program on cable and was also the highest-rated show on all of television, except for American Idol, which scored a 0.56 rating.

The ratings pattern for Raw was notable because the first hour had unusually low ratings, the second hour was significantly higher, and then it fell in the third hour, with the third hour having almost identical viewership to the first hour but still ahead in the key demos.

Raw was the number one program across the board on cable, with second place Tucker Carlson trailing far behind with a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Raw’s 0.40 rating in women 18-49 beat second place Summer House’s 0.24, and Raw’s 0.80 rating in men 18-49 beat out second place Tucker Carlson and PTI, which scored 0.30. Raw’s 0.44 rating with people 18-34 beat Summer House’s 0.13.

Raw placed ninth on cable in total viewership, coming in behind eight news programs. The show’s ratings were down from last week’s post-WrestleMania 39 edition, which was expected. The viewership was down 20 percent, the 18-49 demographic was down 22 percent, and the 18-34 demographic was down 24 percent.

However, compared to last year, Raw’s viewership was up one percent, 18-49 demographic was up 10 percent, and the 18-34 demographic was up 16 percent, indicating that the audience is skewing much younger than a year ago. Factoring in the loss of cable homes over the past year, the real gains were seven percent in viewership, 17 percent in the 18-49 demographic, and 24 percent in the 18-34 demographic.

8 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
9 p.m. 1.96 million viewers
10 p.m. 1.73 million viewers