Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: ratings, Raw, wwe

WWE Raw Ratings Continue to Break Records

Published Tue, 21 Apr 2020 18:05:49 -0500

Once again reaffirming Vince McMahon's decision to resume live broadcasts, this week's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw came in first place in the ratings this week. WWE took both the first and second places in the charts for the people 18-49 demo for its first and second hours, which scored a .59 and a .56, respectively. The third hour of Raw earned a .54 rating to take the fourth-place slot, behind an episode of Love and Hip Hop in Atlanta and ahead of Special Report with Brett Baier on Fox News.

The average viewership for the night was 1.84 million people, a drop from last week. When ranking by viewership, WWE came in 27th. However, the number that matters to advertisers is the demo rating, and that matters especially more so now that live sports are shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Viewership can help drive people to live events and sell PPVs, but the bulk of WWE's revenue is coming from its television contracts, so that's the thing to focus on right now.

WWE Universal Champion Drew McIntyre issues a challenge on the record-setting first hour of Monday Night Raw. [WWE/From Broadcast]

The Bottom Line 'Cause Chad Said So

A lot of people are focusing on the fact that this episode of Raw broke a new record for the lowest number of viewers for a non-holiday live broadcast, but I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy. Of course, ratings are lower during a pandemic. Everyone is panicked and not really concerned with wrestling results. But for WWE fans, we're getting great wrestling in a distraction-free environment, and it's paying off for WWE in the ratings with a first-place finish. People will remember that WWE helped usher us through this dark time with entertaining programming, and that will pay off in the long run once we're all allowed to leave the house again.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!