The week before Money In The Bank, the smallest-ever number of people tuned in to watch Raw live on cable. The night after the pay-per-view, Raw drew more eyes, experiencing both higher viewership and a boost in the ratings.
Last night’s show, which featured Becky Lynch announcing her pregnancy, Asuka becoming Raw Women’s Champion, and the returns of both Edge and The Iiconics, was viewed by 1.92 million people on average over its three-hour run time. That’s a significant increase from last week’s record-low audience of 1.69 million and a step up from the previous week’s 1.82 million. However, it’s still fewer people than were watching Raw’s earlier no-fans shows; more than two million people were still tuning in to watch Raw at the Performance Center back in March.
Despite smaller live audiences, Raw has had consistently high ratings during this period, and those were a little higher this week. The first hour of Raw was the highest-rated show on cable, the second hour was the second-highest, and the third hour was the fourth. These hours drew a 0.59, 0.58, and 0.53 with the 18-49 demographic, respectively.
With the lack of a live crowd removing a key element of the pro wrestling experience and top stars like Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, and now Becky Lynch out of action, WWE is looking for ways to get more people to tune into their programming. The first order of business: allowing talent crossovers between Raw and Smackdown again, starting with Baron Corbin taking on Drew McIntyre next week on the red brand and Charlotte Flair showing up on Friday’s Smackdown.
