WWE Raw hurt by 4th of July but maintains top spot on cable

The 4th of July edition of WWE Raw took a major hit but maintained its position as the top cable program on Monday.

Photo Courtesy: WWE

The 4th of July edition of WWE Raw took a major hit but maintained its position as the top cable program on Monday.

For the fourth consecutive week, Raw was the top program among cable originals averaging 1,563,000 viewers and approximately 487,000 (0. 37) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.

The viewership decreased 20 percent from last week with adults 18-49 falling by 31 percent and a big decline of 35 percent among adults 18-34.

Of the data available, it would represent the second-lowest 18-49 audience for an episode of Raw on record. The all-time low was set on December 6, 2021, when Raw aired against an NFL game between New England and Buffalo.

Raw began in the first hour with 1,702,000 viewers and 0.40 in the 18-49 demographic and was their lowest opening hour since May 30th.

In hour two, the show fell to 1,661,000 but the 18-49 demo grew to 0.41. The second hour also saw growth among males 18-49 and adults 25-54.

The final hour was a huge drop with viewership falling to 1,327,000 and 0.31 in the demo.

From the first to the final hour, viewership fell by 22 percent, 18-49 fell by 22.5 percent with the larger declines seen among adults 18-34 with a 37 percent decline and 39 percent loss among females 12-34.

Compared with last week (which was abnormally high due to John Cena’s return and making the declines more pronounced on a holiday week), they were down 20 percent in viewers, down 31 percent in 18-49, and declined 35 percent in 18-34. Among the key demos, the only category that didn’t fall 20 percent or higher was adults 50+, which only fell by 12 percent this week.

In Canada, WWE Raw averaged 178,800 viewers and 88,900 in the 25-54 demographic, which were declines of four and five percent respectively from the previous week on Sportsnet 360.

WWE was coming off its Money in the Bank event and promoted the Mysterios in their hometown of San Diego facing Finn Balor & Damian Priest along with The Miz responding to Logan Paul’s signing and challenge he issued last week.

Last year’s episode following the 4th of July weekend occurred on July 5, 2021, and averaged 1,472,000 viewers and 536,000 in 18-49 and was Raw’s lowest overall viewership ever. This year, they were up in viewership but down in the demo, but you also have to factor in fewer homes having cable than one year ago, so the viewership increase is a positive.

Miz & Mrs. aired immediately after Raw on the USA Network and averaged 483,000 viewers and 0.14 in the 18-49 demo, finishing fifteenth among cable originals. It was the lowest figures of the season for Miz & Mrs. and down from 669,000 and 0.21 last week, which had a big edition of Raw as a lead-in.

About John Pollock 5788 Articles
Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.