WWE News: Monday Night Raw viewership down despite big returns

What’s the story?

Monday Night Raw’s viewership averaged 2.854 million and was down nearly 100,000 viewers from last week’s average of 2.953 million.

In case you didn’t know...

The first hour of Raw kicked off with the return of Samoa Joe, Nia Jax and Stephanie McMahon to WWE programming, as well as the announcement of Kurt Angle being named the captain of the men’s team and Jax being added to the Raw Women’s team.

The second hour of Raw featured an Intercontinental Championship match between The Miz and Matt Hardy, as well as a match between Finn Bálor and Cesaro.

The final hour of Raw featured a Raw Women’s Championship match between Alexa Bliss and Mickie James and the return of Braun Strowman.

The heart of the matter

The October 30th edition of Raw was up against the NFL game between Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs and several NBA games. The following is the hourly breakdown of this week’s viewership:

Hour one: 3.102 million

Hour two: 2.943 million

Hour three: 2.517 million

The drop from hour one to hour two saw 159,000 fans tune out, but the biggest decrease was from hour two to hour three were Raw lost 426,000 viewers.

What’s next?

Six NBA games took place during Raw including a game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors that began 30 minutes prior to the end of the third hour.

With both NBA and NFL games to contend with, Raw’s viewership may see further declines until the playoff season for the NFL begins and Monday Night Football is gone.

Author’s take

Raw often fairs poorly during holidays and during football and basketball games, but losing nearly 600,000 viewers by the end of the third hour could be a cause for concern if the numbers continue declining at their current rate.