Dave Meltzer Predicts The Effect Of Netflix Move On WWE Raw Viewership

Since it was announced that "WWE Raw" would begin streaming live on Netflix in January, there has continued to be uncertainty towards how the red brand is going to perform on a streaming service rather than cable television, with many questioning if WWE will be able to grow their audience. However, Dave Meltzer recently explained in the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter," that he expects to see an increase in "Raw's" younger demographic on Netflix, and used the NFL's Christmas games on the platform as an example of the younger audience continuing to be present on streaming.

"The U.S. audience for "Raw" will grow with Netflix, primary the younger audience. When the NFL games aired on Netflix on 12/25, while the audience was down 20 percent from the same day in 2023, that's network and that will draw more than cable. However, there was a significant increase under 35 even over network numbers for the Netflix games, and almost all the drop, which was very large, was over 50 viewers. It's possible "Raw" may drop in over 50 viewers, although a cable number would be lower than a network number. But it will grow significantly younger than that and in the long run it's the best thing for the company as long as Netflix opts to keep it."

Meltzer also noted that "Thursday Night Football" on Amazon Prime is currently performing better than it did on FOX when it comes to attracting younger viewers, as well as generating a larger audience overall. He continued to explain how Netflix is primarily new to broadcasting live sports, with Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul being the only other big ticket event outside of the NFL that streamed live, which proved to be a massive success.