10 Burning Questions For WWE Raw (July 11th)
1. Will Raw Ratings Recover?
Last week, WWE clearly expected to see its ratings drop off
due to the July 4th holiday. It only happens once every 5-6 years
that Independence Day falls on a Monday, but that is a major holiday in
America, one that draws most people away from the TV and out of the house to
attend cookouts and watch fireworks.
But ratings plummeted last week, dropping well below 2.7 million viewers, easily the lowest number this year. That’s an 800,000 viewer deficit from two weeks earlier (June 20th), which is a ridiculously huge drop-off in two short weeks. Now, WWE should expect to get a good number of those viewers back Monday night – hopefully enough to top 3 million again – but how far will the numbers rebound?
It’s clear WWE is trying to pull out the stops with Vince McMahon showing up, an Intercontinental Championship #1 contender being determined, fan favorite Zack Ryder possibly getting a United States Championship match, and the New Day and Wyatt Family continuing down their creepy road.
But will all of this equal better ratings? Or will we see some of the drop-off remain? With SmackDown going live next week and SummerSlam next month, WWE needs to be pulling in more viewers to build a bigger audience, not continue to watch their weekly share evaporate.