WWE Raw rating and hourly trend and what it sets up for next week (w/Keller’s Analysis)

PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.

(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)

In ratings news as boring as it is gets, WWE Raw increased over last week by 0.01 of a rating point, drawing a 1.93 rating compared to last week’s 1.92 rating. This is in line with the ratings average since Labor Day not counting two weeks ago against the Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump debate.

Hourly viewership: 2.790 first hour, 2.876 second hour, and 2.610 third hour. This also fits the usual trend.

Monday Night Football was down to 9 million viewers for the Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Bucaneers game compared to last week’s 13.1 million viewers for the Minnesota Vikings vs. New York Giants game last week.

Keller’s Analysis: What this rating sets up is next week’s show featuring the return of Bill Goldberg. Since it’s established now that Raw does around a 1.9 rating, can Goldberg – and I can’t believe I’m writing this – gets Raw’s rating into the 2.0+ range again, at least for one week? Next week’s MNF game features the New York Jets vs. Arizona Cardinals, so the New York market could improve the viewership next week up against Raw, so that could be a mitigating factor in Goldberg’s ratings increase, although the Jets are only 1-4.