WWE Raw Rating Reaches NEW Record Low...AGAIN!
December's creative catastrophes result in another numbers plunge for the flagship...
Remember this? Or this? Or this?
WWE 'member, but there's been little effort to arrest a slide that seems destined to continue towards Christmas at very least. Dave Meltzer reported the figures, noting that the "least watched first hour in the show's modern history" contributed to the overall average of only 2.29 million that tuned into the December 3rd edition of the show bookended by the ongoing feud between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax. The 2.29 total falls 0.01 short of the 2.30 set on October 1st.
He noted that; "Both the second and third hours were above last week, but the difference was a first hour drop from 2.61 million last Monday to 2.26 million this week. Raw overall was down three percent from last week, which was the fourth lowest number in the modern history of the show."
It wasn't all bad news for WWE. Raw was the ninth most-watched show on cable, but only trailed NFL on ESPN and various other news programming.
Meltzer posited that Monday Night Football may have contributed to the devastating drop during the first 60 minutes. He said; "The Philadelphia vs. Washington Monday Night Football game did 11.24 million viewers, up 15 percent from the prior week, which would easily explain a three percent overall drop, but not the low first hour number and second hour gain. The third hour dropped, but was still above last week's third hour.
WWE has routinely been guilty of creative malaise during the holidays over the years - though this latest slump may trigger an unusual level of festive chaos in order to try and avoid any further season's beatings.