WWE Raw’s ratings have been in steady decline since September, hitting record lows in viewership not seen touched by the company since 1997. The Nov. 23 edition of the show brought in a 2.16 rating that had everyone panicking, and the Dec. 7 episode dropped that number to 2.15. If you’re wondering if the return of Vince McMahon to WWE TV for the first time in more than a year was enough to pop a big rating, the McMahon answer would be, “you’re damn right it was.”
This week’s Raw rating jumped up to 2.66, the best number for the show since August. They brought in 3.88 million viewers, up from last week’s 3.05 million viewers, for a 27 percent increase. They’re also up 29 percent in the 18–49 demo, to 1.34 from 1.04.
While television ratings may not be as singularly important as they were 20 years ago, this increase has got to be seen as a positive step forward for WWE, who delivered an episode where things actually happened and were rewarded for it. Hour one (featuring the fallout from TLC and the announcement that McMahon was showing up) brought in more than four million viewers, and hour three actually improved on hour two, suggesting that people were interested in seeing what McMahon would do in addition to just seeing him. Here’s the breakdown:
Hour 1: 4.04 million viewers (3.27 million last week)
Hour 2: 3.79 million viewers (3.04 million last week)
Hour 3: 3.83 million viewers (2.85 million last week)
