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WWE TV ratings and viewership figures will always be the most important measuring sticks to ascertain its results.
WWE has had its fair share of struggles with dwindling TV ratings during the pandemic era of wrestling, and the arrival of AEW has only increased the scrutiny of TV rating trends. While figures in the United States have been consistently low, barring a few brief spikes, viewership in other countries paints a promising picture for the WWE.
Michael Morales and Miguel Perez of Lucha Libre Online released exclusive information about WWE's ratings outside the United States. Based on Lucha Libre Online's reports, India is one of WWE's most prominent markets as the country has pulled in mind-boggling numbers.
The average viewership for RAW in India for January 2021 was more than 4 million viewers. SmackDown drew 3 million, while NXT also managed to pull in a little over a million in the first month of the new year.
South Africa drew an average that exceeded 1 million viewers for both RAW and SmackDown. Canada, Germany and Italy each averaged around 300,000 viewers for RAW and SmackDown.
The report only mentioned SmackDown numbers for South Korea, which were more than 300,000 viewers. The RAW figures weren't available.
These impressive numbers are only half the story for the WWE
WWE managed to draw an average of 5.9 million viewers for RAW in January 2021 from India, Canada, Germany, South Africa, and Italy. SmackDown, which also includes the South Korean market, it raked in around 5.2 million viewers.
These figures still don't reveal the complete story as many countries and markets have been left out. WWE airs a litany of programs in Latin America, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and several other locations.
SmackDown has maintained a steady run in 2021 in the US and stayed above the two-million threshold. RAW officials haven't been as lucky since the Red brand managed to draw around 1.85 million viewers in January 2021.
The Lucha Libre Online report concluded with the following details:
The approximate real rating between the previously mentioned countries and the United States for RAW rises to 7.2 million viewers per week by January 2021. While RAW has an average of 7.75 million average viewers in the aforementioned countries.
The report's biggest takeaway has been the sheer importance of WWE's TV presence in India. This outstanding progress explains why the company has invested a lot of time setting up a separate show for the Indian fans.
WWE Superstar Spectacle was a successful event, and there are reported plans to start a weekly show and push homegrown talents and storylines.
