Why WWE Has Lost 1 Million Viewers

vince mcmahon raw
WWE.com

With thanks to the excellent Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics for sourcing the following graph from WWE's KPIs:-

Raw Viewership
WWE

This shows that WWE television performed significantly worse than everything else in Q4 2018, and the trend makes it hard to bet against similar numbers when the company's Q1 2019 financials come out on 25 April.

Similarly flimsy is the basketball argument. WWE drew almost 1 million more viewers the last time they went head-to-head with the NCAA (2017) in this slot, so while said competition can be used to excuse some of the lost viewers, it doesn't cover them all.

WWE still care dearly about their TV ratings, no matter how the internet responds whenever these figures come out. Television rights fees, advertising, and sponsorship accounted for $484.4 million of their $930.2 million in 2018. They're still dependent on it, and with reports that new network Fox will expect viewership figures of around 3.5m when SmackDown moves to Friday nights in October, boosting these numbers will be one of Vince McMahon's biggest challenges in 2019.

The Raw after WrestleMania used to be an easy home run that guaranteed a boosted audience; its palpable decline tells us much about the company's shrinking viewership as a whole.

CONT'd...

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.