WWE ratings: Raw draws lowest numbers of 2021, SmackDown up

May 28, 2021 / By mobanmarket

By Dave Meltzer and Paul Fontaine

– Raw on Monday night averaged 1.62 million viewers and did an 0.45 rating in 18-49, among the lowest numbers in show history in each category.

The numbers were down due to the NBA playoffs. The 18-49 number was the second lowest in the history of the show, with only an 0.41 for the December 14, 2020 show being lower. For total viewers, it was the fourth lowest in history. The record low is the same December 14, 2020 show, that did 1.53 million viewers going against a massive NFL game.

Viewers for all wrestling shows should be down from now until they are no longer going against NBA playoff games.

Viewers were down 10.9 percent from last week and 18-49 was down 6.3 percent.  

As compared to the same week last year, viewers were down 6.4 percent and 18-49 was down 11.8 percent.

The first-to-third hour drop of 7.2 percent was on the low end, so it was more people not tuning in from the start than people tuning out in larger than usual numbers based on the quality of the show.  It was a combination of the NBA, primarily, and secondarily, not announcing anything besides a Women’s Tag Team title match and Xavier Woods vs. Riddle in advance.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 1.66 million viewers
9 p.m. 1.67 million viewers
10 p.m. 1.54 million viewers

– This past Friday’s SmackDown averaged 1.93 million viewers, up 0.9 percent from the previous week. Aside from the previous week, it’s the only time SmackDown has dropped below two million viewers since moving to the ThunderDome.

SmackDown’s 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demo was up 27 percent from the previous week.

Year-over-year, SmackDown was down 5.6 percent in viewership and even in the 18-49 demo.