WWE Raw Moving TV Networks Twice In February
Expect a temporary ratings dip when WWE Raw is preempted off USA Network next month.
WWE Raw will be preempted from USA Network to SyFy a couple of times next month.
NBCUniversal just unveiled its Olympic broadcasting schedule. With Winter Olympics coverage set to air on Raw's usual network, USA, on 7 and 14 February, the red brand is moving to SyFy (h/t PWInsider's Mike Johnson).
This will almost certainly coincide with a ratings drop for those two weeks, as pro wrestling content being preempted to another channel tends to. NXT, for example, was moved from USA Network to SyFy for two weeks last summer, with the 27 July and 3 August episodes both drawing 520,000 P2+ viewers compared to 709,000 on the brand's previous USA outing.
Such preemptions are common for SmackDown, which is semi-regularly switched from its usual FOX home to FS1 during major sporting clashes. Now, the Winter Olympics are set to have an impact on Raw.
While ratings for this week's episode of Raw are yet to come out (due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the United States), the brand going head-to-head with an NFL playoff game is expected to take a major toll on its numbers. Last week's show drew an average of 1.632 million total viewers including 507,000 in the key 18-49 demographic.