WWE Raw Ratings Down For Night Of Champions Go-Home Show

There are still a few more weeks of WWE and AEW's flagship television shows having to fight off stiff live sports competition from the NBA and NHL playoffs, and on Monday, that competition continued to have a noticeable effect on the viewership of "Raw." According to reporting from ShowbuzzDaily and Wrestlenomics, the May 22 episode of "Raw" averaged 1,638,000 viewers overall across its three hours (down five percent from last week), approximately 704,000 of which were in the "key demo" most valued by advertisers, adults aged 18 to 49 (down seven percent from the prior week). The latter figure translates to a 0.54 rating in P18-49, which earned "Raw" fifth place in ShowbuzzDaily's rankings of Monday's cable originals.

The main competition Monday, ESPN's coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets conference finals game, averaged 8,209,000 viewers overall and scored a 2.83 rating in the key demo. In the NHL, the conference finals game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers averaged 1,537,000 viewers and scored a 0.48. This resulted in the lowest total viewership for "Raw" since January 16. However, despite the NBA game starting at 8:35 PM ET, the recent "Raw" pattern of the show peaking in the second (9 PM ET) hour continued.

For a more extensive picture, the Wrestlenomics Patreon page tracks how "Raw" did in various demographics in relation to the median of the prior four weeks' numbers. By that metric, every demo being followed was down with the exception of male viewers aged 12 to 34 (up ten percent from the median) and adults aged 18 to 34 (no change). The biggest drop came in what's normally a reliable demo, adults aged 50+, which fell 12 percent from the median, followed closely by female viewers aged 12 to 34 at an 11 percent dip.