The Ratings Thread - a lot of people watched wrestling on Super Tuesday, sort of

[Jussi]

The 7/25 episode of “Raw” had an average viewership number of 1,901,333, which is up considerably from last week’s 1,765,000, the highest the number has been in a month. It was an 8% increase from the previous week and a 5% increase from the year before.

Demographically, “Raw” garnered a 0.50 P18-49 rating, which is up 7% from last week’s 0.46. Those numbers put the program in the #1 spot for cable originals and #2 for all of broadcast primetime — “Raw” was beaten out only by “The Bachelorette” on ABC, which roped in a 0.74 P18-49 in the key demographic.

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

Ratkngs

 

[GKJ]

Who knew all they had to do to increase ratings was get rid of Vince

 

[TD Charlie]

Who knew all they had to do to increase ratings was get rid of Vince

Unless they can continue to improve, ratings will go right back down.

 

[branimal84]

Unless they can continue to improve, ratings will go right back down.

Yeah, likely won't stay up. But it's encouraging. I do hope they keep up the momentum. While I mostly watch AEW primarily, I'd love for WWE to get better and better. I just want good television all around.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Unless they can continue to improve, ratings will go right back down.

Well, to be fair, a lot of people like me just tuned in because they were curious.

I won't tune in every week, but if the feedback is good, I might give them a shot more often.

 

[TD Charlie]

Well, to be fair, a lot of people like me just tuned in because they were curious.

I won't tune in every week, but if the feedback is good, I might give them a shot more often.

Same. I record every show, both promotions. Typically i end up deleting raw and smackdown. I watched raw almost live, so i was able to skip through commercials, and it was a reasonably enjoyable show. If they continue to improve and use THAT as sort of the “day 1” then I think they’ll do great. They’ll always make money. But hopefully they can draw the older fans back in again and get the hot crowds of old

 

[GKJ]

I think the difference this time is that they gave you some things to chew on, whereas when they went for a ratings grab before, it wasn’t about pushing the product. Plus you had the first show after the PPV.

 

[Jussi]

The rating and audience for last week’s WWE Smackdown hit the best points for the show since July and June, respectively. Friday night’s show scored a 0.57 rating in the 18 – 49 demographic and 2.367 million viewers, up 16.3% and 14% from the previous week’s 0.49 demo rating and 2.077 million viewers. The demo rating was the best since the July 22nd episode had a 0.62, while the total viewership was the best since the June 17th episode had 2.389 million viewers.

Smackdown won the night among broadcast shows and came in at #2 among all shows on TV per Showbuzz Daily, behind only the US Open on ESPN (0.67 demo rating, 2.961 million viewers).

 

[TD Charlie]

Makes sense. The shows have been consistently better since the transition of power. I might even go so far as to say WWE has had a better product than AEW since the change over. Still undecided. I spent the last couple years firmly in Tony's corner, but it's a close race these days.

 

[Emperoreddy]

RAW took a hit this week, but to be expected with week 1 NFL and the Emmys.

 

[GKJ]

You also had an atypically hyped game on MNF with Russell Wilson. Raw was 7th on cable for the night.

 

[OG6ix]

Yeah, likely won't stay up. But it's encouraging. I do hope they keep up the momentum. While I mostly watch AEW primarily, I'd love for WWE to get better and better. I just want good television all around.

I don't think I'll ever watch WWE again until they end the brand split; In my opinion it's super unnecessary. There is no need to split the roster into two - you could have a large roster and have two shows as they always did before buying WCW. Too many duplicate titles, 6 hours a week on WWE is ridiculous - I can't keep up with all the story lines and then they randomly do a draft and displace all of the storylines again.

 

[Jussi]

I don't think I'll ever watch WWE again until they end the brand split; In my opinion it's super unnecessary. There is no need to split the roster into two - you could have a large roster and have two shows as they always did before buying WCW. Too many duplicate titles, 6 hours a week on WWE is ridiculous - I can't keep up with all the story lines and then they randomly do a draft and displace all of the storylines again.

It's what the networks want.

 

[TD Charlie]

I don't think I'll ever watch WWE again until they end the brand split; In my opinion it's super unnecessary. There is no need to split the roster into two - you could have a large roster and have two shows as they always did before buying WCW. Too many duplicate titles, 6 hours a week on WWE is ridiculous - I can't keep up with all the story lines and then they randomly do a draft and displace all of the storylines again.

Honestly, the brand split hasn't hurt the product at all in the last couple months. For the most part you can watch on a Monday and have a general idea of who to expect, and then Friday you know you're less likely to see Dominik Mysterio in your main event with Edge. Even if you haven't kept up with the storylines it's got nothing to do with a brand split IMO, it's just that you don't want to keep up...which is fine. The brand split hasn't made anything more confusing. They still do a bit of crossover appearances too.

EDIT: Not to mention that I don't find myself wishing I could have seen any specific wrestler on the show. There's enough decent action and story happening that you'll forget all about not seeing John Cena for 2 hours.

It's still the same it's always been. You could have missed all of wrestling for the last 10 years, and after you watch 1 show you'll be caught up enough where you'll understand exactly what's happening by the end of it. It's a simple as it's always been. Bad guys vs good guys

It's what the networks want.

And that of course

 

[CDJ]

Makes sense. The shows have been consistently better since the transition of power. I might even go so far as to say WWE has had a better product than AEW since the change over. Still undecided. I spent the last couple years firmly in Tony's corner, but it's a close race these days.

Pretty much where I’m at with everything

 

[Grackle Party]

Raw needs to go to 2 hours to be truly improve. Its slightly better now but nothing screams must see TV. Cutting an hour would help a lot

 

[TD Charlie]

Raw needs to go to 2 hours to be truly improve. Its slightly better now but nothing screams must see TV. Cutting an hour would help a lot

I would prefer 2 hours, because then they are forced to only put out meaningful segments. The shows have been fine though. Not everything is great, and after the opening segment there’s still a big drop off until they hit the top of the hour, but I’m at least able to get through a full show. It could be a lot worse imo

 

[GKJ]

 

[yahhockey]

According to Showbuzz Daily, 1,175,000 viewers watched the show on Wednesday night, and it drew a 0.39 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic. The viewership was up from the September 7 episode when 1,035,000 viewers tuned in. The demo also rose from last week‘s episode, which drew a 0.38 rating in the same demographic.

 

[CDJ]

MJF comes back, ratings go up


Tell me I’m wrong! Can’t be done!

 

[Unholy Diver]

MJF comes back, ratings go up


Tell me I’m wrong! Can’t be done!

Or did they go up due to the Elite being suspended?

 

[OG6ix]

Honestly, the brand split hasn't hurt the product at all in the last couple months. For the most part you can watch on a Monday and have a general idea of who to expect, and then Friday you know you're less likely to see Dominik Mysterio in your main event with Edge. Even if you haven't kept up with the storylines it's got nothing to do with a brand split IMO, it's just that you don't want to keep up...which is fine. The brand split hasn't made anything more confusing. They still do a bit of crossover appearances too.

EDIT: Not to mention that I don't find myself wishing I could have seen any specific wrestler on the show. There's enough decent action and story happening that you'll forget all about not seeing John Cena for 2 hours.

It's still the same it's always been. You could have missed all of wrestling for the last 10 years, and after you watch 1 show you'll be caught up enough where you'll understand exactly what's happening by the end of it. It's a simple as it's always been. Bad guys vs good guys

And that of course

I grew up with the WWF where there was only the heavyweight, intercontinental, and tag champs (sure there was the european / light heavyweight/ womens floating around at times too) but there was always THE guy with a championship. With the brand split there are double titles (I know not at the moment which makes the brand split even more irrelevant) and there is no clear cut #1 guy. They created the brandsplit due to not having competition after buying WCW - there is a second national promotion/alternative now. They can do away with it.

Or did they go up due to the Elite being suspended?

Agreed, they may have been there from the beginning as EVPs but they are not a draw outside of their niche fanbase. I think Cornette has been right in this case (and I don't necessarily agree with cornette on stuff) that when the elite came on the main event the two weeks prior to All In the ratings dipped close to 200k two weeks in a row. I think this Punk fight is a blessing in disguise for AEW/TK; you can't book based on positions of power but rather the ability to draw.

 

[Emperoreddy]

It's only one week, but tells me you don't need to cater to Punk or The Elite to try and save ratings.

Show can do fine without them

 

[Jussi]

WWE Raw ratings up for season premiere

Raw drew by far its best numbers since the start of football season.

www.f4wonline.com

Last night's Raw averaged 1.82 million viewers overall and drew a 0.55 rating in 18-49. As is usual for the bringing back nostalgia acts, it's actually the younger audience not the older audience that increases the most.

The audience was up 14 percent in viewers from last week, but up 37 percent in 18-49 and up 48 percent in 18-34.

Raw finished fifth behind the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs NFL game that did 15.79 million viewers and a 4.65 in 18-49 on ESPN, which is a great rating and makes the Raw number even more impressive. Raw also finished behind the postgame show, the kickoff show, and SportsCenter after the postgame show.

Raw finished fifth behind the same shows in women 18-49, sixth (also behind the NFL Countdown show) in men 18-49, fifth in 18-34, fifth in women 12-34, and fifth in men 12-34. It finished 13th in total viewers behind only NFL and news related shows.

As compared to last year, Raw was up 15 percent in viewers, up 32 percent in 18-49, and up 42 percent in 18-34. If you factor in cable losing homes over the last year, the real ratings percentage increases figured internally by the station would be up 20 percent in viewers, up 40 percent in 18-49, and up 48 percent in 18-34.