WWE News: Raw ratings stay steady, but still low

Raw needs to pick up steam

Monday Night Raw has been facing quite some trouble with the ratings since the draft. Many have felt that Smackdown Live has been the superior show for 7 out of the 9 weeks since the draft. The only two times Raw managed to up its game was on Finn Balor’s debut and Kevin Owens’ Universal Championship victory.

Naturally, they cannot pull off such huge happenings every episode. That is where Smackdown Live has benefited from – consistency. Not to mention, a two-hour show is far easier to watch, and Smackdown Live have also excelled in utilizing their roster, even though many felt they got the lesser of the two in terms of roster depth.

Last week, Raw hit another low rating of 2.69 million, partly due to the fact that the Football season began on television as well. Raw now has to go head-to-head with Monday Night Football for the coming months.

This week, Raw stayed on par with last week’s rating, getting 2.684 million viewers. This is a quarter percent decrease from last week. The breakdown of the hourly ratings are as follows:8 PM: 0.93 demo rating (2.734 million viewers)9 PM: 0.90 demo rating (2.686 million viewers)10 PM: 0.91 demo rating (2.633 million viewers)

Raw ranked #4 for the night among cable originals behind the NFL game (4.54 demo rating, 12.137 million viewers), SportsCenter (1.32/2.884 million) and Love & Hip-Hop on VH1 (1.12/2.148 million). Next week you can expect the ratings to go down further, as Raw will be going head to head with the Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Next month on October 4th, Smackdown Live will be the one going up against the Presidential debate. It will be interesting to see what this week’s Smackdown Live ratings will be, given that Dean Ambrose vs John Cena was the main event. Also, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler had a fantastic Intercontinental Championship match. Smackdown Live has been steadily creeping up on the Raw ratings but is yet to equal or cross it. Last week Smackdown Live was just short of Raw’s ratings. Don’t be surprised if the ratings even out this week. It also would not be surprising if Smackdown Live gets higher viewership next week due to Raw facing off with the above mentioned Presidential debate. It is a very tricky time for Raw, a show that really needs to up its game.

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