Raw follows SmackDown’s lead

Raw finished fourth among cable originals on May 9, and the three shows ahead of it were all coverage of the second round of the NBA playoffs. Monday’s two games, competitive contests between the Boston Celtics & Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors & Memphis Grizzlies, averaged audiences of 5.15 million with a 1.7 rating among 18-49 year olds for TNT.

That’s been the case for much of the basketball post-season; it was the same story last Monday. What’s different this week is that Raw didn’t post some worst ever numbers while finishing behind live sports. Averaging 1.65 million viewers with a .44 demo across its three hours is definitely still on the low side, but it’s at least a sign the show’s not on a straight downward trend until the NBA champs are crowned next month.

Here’s the hourly break down for total viewers and 18-49:

Hour One: 1.64 million / .42
Hour Two: 1.73 million / .47
Hour Three: 1.59 million / .43

The week-to-week increase can probably be attributed to WrestleMania Backlash fallout, since Cody Rhodes vs. Austin Theory was the only thing promoted in advance for May 9.

Another interesting note comes from Wrestlenomics, which pointed out how Raw’s ratings pattern’s been following SmackDown’s:

Brandon Thurston’s Twitter

Some of that is surely due to the show’s promoting events around the same time, but it’s worth wondering how and why a strong Friday night performance contributes to Monday’s. Feel free to share your theories below, fellow ratings watchers.

For complete results and this week’s Raw live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.

Numbers via Showbuzz Daily