WWE Raw ratings up despite NBA Finals competition

WWE Raw last night averaged 1.75 million viewers and drew a 0.55 rating in 18-49 going against the final game of the NBA playoffs.

The number was strong given the opposition, likely a combination of the post-PPV bump that Raw will generally get, and the payoff of the Wyatt Sicks angle that they had been building up for a long time.

Judging from the strong first hour, it would lead to curiosity off the PPV, but hour three was stronger than it has been of late.

Raw was the No. 1 show on cable in 18-49 and beat everything on television in the demo except shows related to the NBA finals. The game itself did 12.22 million viewers and a 3.65 rating in 18-49.

Raw was up nine percent in viewers from last week even with far stronger competition, and up 10 percent in 18-49.

NBC had the Olympic trials head-to-head with two shows, the first hour plus doing 3.15 million viewers and a 0.41, and the last 45 minutes did 2.67 million viewers and a 0.35.

ESPN had the College Baseball World Series which did 1.49 million viewers and a 0.26 in 18-49. The highest rated entertainment show on cable against Raw was Below Deck with 741,000 viewers and 0.15.

Raw was down from last year, but that show didn’t go against the NBA playoffs. It was down four percent in viewers and down 3,000 viewers in 18-49. When you factor in the NBA playoff opposition and the decline in cable homes, both of those numbers should be seen as a major positive even though they look like a negative.

The three hours were:

• 8 p.m. 1.86 million viewers
• 9 p.m. 1.73 million viewers
• 10 pm. 1.65 million viewers