Despite the trumpeting of the episode as the yearly “season premiere,” RAW didn’t improve in the ratings. Monday’s episode drew 3.397 million viewers and a 1.13 rating in the 18 – 49 demographic. Those numbers are up less than 1% and down 12%, respectively, from last week’s 3.385 million and 1.28 demo rating.
While the fact that the viewership didn’t drop against some big Monday Night Football games is admirable, the number still represents the second-lowest number for RAW in a long time, behind only last week. Meanwhile the demo rating is the lowest since the June 29th episode brought in a 1.11 rating. RAW ranked #4 for the night among cable originals behind two Monday Night Football games on ESPN (at 14.33 million/5.94 demo rating and 13.560 million/5.31 demo rating) and a late-night episode of SportsCenter which followed (2.955 million, 1.35 demo rating).
The hourly numbers are as follows:
8 PM: 3.290 million viewers (1.06 demo rating)
9 PM: 3.539 million viewers (1.18 demo rating)
10 PM: 3.363 million viewers (1.15 demo rating)
