Monday Night Football does a number on Raw’s ratings

Monday Night Football returned last night (Sept. 12) which a surprisingly tight game between the Seattle Seahawks & Denver Broncos. It aired on ABC, ESPN & ESPN2, and was watched by 19.8 million with a 5.59 cumulative rating among 18-49 year olds.

Everyone knew the NFL would take a big chunk out of Raw’s numbers. And it did. WWE’s Mon., Sept. 12 episode was watched by an average of 1.71 million over its three hours. That’s a 16.5% drop from the week before with no football. It scored a .44 average rating with the key demo, 24% less than Sept. 5’s Clash at the Castle fallout edition.

Those are big drops, but we also have to factor in the Emmy Awards, which were watched by 5.92 million and had 1.09 in the demo for NBC. So it was more than just the return of the NFL.

And, Raw’s numbers from Sept. 12, 2022 are better than they were last year when MNF returned. The Sept. 13, 2021 Raw had an audience of 1.67 million and a .42 with the 18-49 demo.

Third hour holds have been a big part of Raw’s recent success. Last night, people chose Russell Wilson’s comeback attempt over Edge vs. Dominik Mysterio. Here’s the hourly breakdown for total viewers and 18-49:

Hour One: 1.78 million / .45
Hour Two: 1.82 million / .48
Hour Three: 1.53 million / .39

The Emmys won’t be on every Monday, and it won’t always be opening week of the football season (nor will ABC/ESPN’s games always be as close as Seahawks/Broncos ended up being). Cause for optimism, or is it all downhill from here until next year?

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