WWE Raw Hits All-Time Ratings Low, Loses To AEW Dynamite
Lousy creative and NFL competition leads to the worst WWE Raw ratings ever - and a loss to AEW.
This week's episode of WWE Raw scored all-time low numbers in overall viewership and the key 18-49 demographic, as the show bottomed out ahead of this weekend's TLC 2020 pay-per-view.
Raw hit an average of 1.53 million viewers across its three hours. This is a decline on the previous week's 1.74 million and breaks down as follows:-
Hour one: 1.63 million viewers
Hour two: 1.51 million viewers
Hour three: 1.44 million viewers
While the show clearly trounced last week's episode of AEW Dynamite in this regard, that Raw lost to the competition in the more important metric, the key 18-49 demographic, is a major story. Raw slipped from the previous week's 0.51 to just 0.41, with the 9 December Dynamite hitting 0.45.
Raw faced intense competition from an NFL game this week, which drew 12.4 million viewers and a 3.57 rating in the 18-49 demo. This almost certainly contributed towards the ratings collapse, though the same could be said for Raw's increasingly poorly-received creative, with recent episodes receiving largely negative responses from critics.
For AEW to outdo Raw at this early stage in the promotion's lifespan is a considerable achievement, though the "balance of power" in pro wrestling won't truly shift until this becomes a trend (if it ever does). Expect Dynamite's numbers to slip this week, and for Raw's to go up again, but keeping watching the patterns in 2021.
Data: Showbuzz Daily