Despite Stiff Competition, “Monday Night Raw” Viewership Up from Previous Week

For the first time since the beginning of the year, WWE went up against ESPN’s regular season showings of “Monday Night Football. ” Due to the stiff competition, WWE went all-out on its “season premiere” of “Monday Night Raw” on Sept. 8. It featured a special guest in Jerry Springer and two marquee matches: Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho in a Steel Cage match and a “SummerSlam” rematch, Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton.

For the Sept. 8 episode of “Monday Night Raw,” viewership was up from the past week. The showing averaged 3.99 million viewers, only up about two percent from the past week. The two percent increase leaves interpretation ambiguous, as the past week was the Labor Day showing of the program.

Below are the hourly breakdowns in viewership:

Hour 1: 3.984 million viewers

Hour 2: 4.162 million viewers

Hour 3: 3.814 million viewers

For the night, “Raw” would finish third in terms of viewership for cable programs. It fell behind “Monday Night Football,” obviously, in addition to VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.” “Raw” garnered a 1.5 rating for adults aged  18-49, which put WWE tied for third in that category.

Editor’s Note

The increase in viewership is good, given the competition. However, it’s still a bit low based on past numbers in previous weeks and months.