2/11/13 RAW Rating: Down from Last Week

Monday night’s edition of RAW saw an 11.5 percent drop in the ratings, as it drew a 3.16 while averaging 4.26 million viewers. This is significantly down from the Feb. 4 episode, which took home a 3.56 rating instead.

The first hour saw 4.35 million people tune in to watch Paul Heyman tender his resignation, while the final two hours steadily decreased to 4.24 million and 4.17 million viewers respectively.

It should be noted that throughout the evening, WWE heavily promoted the WWE Champion The Rock as appearing later in the show. Regardless, this had little effect on the prospective viewers, as they opted to tune out instead and miss the final segment between The Rock and former WWE Champion CM Punk. The lower rating is also significant because it is the final episode of RAW before this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

RAW saw a major dip in viewers following Punk’s knee surgery in December, a fall that left the show drawing in the high 2’s. This combined with a series of installments that fell on holidays, and RAW was in need of a pickup.

Since Rock’s return, however, ratings have seen a dramatic increase. The 1/28 episode, which followed his championship victory at the Royal Rumble, drew more than a 3.7, one of the highest non-special RAW ratings in years. It also saw the return of Brock Lesnar. The show has not sported worse than a 3.0 in 2013, a significant improvement over the finish of 2012.

While the 2/4 episode did not feature the champ, Lesnar was promoted throughout the night, which likely served as a placeholder.

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