WWE News and Updates 2016: 'Monday Night Raw' Ratings Dip; Will USA Network Cancel?
The New Era is upon the WWE Universe. NXT call-ups and independent standouts are beginning to find their niche in the company, getting title opportunities and even winning them.
However, WWE might have to manage bigger changes in order to return to cable television supremacy. As the NFL season enters its second week, Monday Night Football seemed to affect Monday Night Raw's ratings, despite struggling to keep its own audience.
With the future of WWE programming in a quagmire, its host USA Network might just consider dropping one of the longest-running weekly shows on cable.
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Ratings drop
It looks like Vince McMahon is once again locked in the Monday Night Wars of the 90s - this time, against football. While Monday Night Football itself recorded a decrease in ratings for the first two games of the season, WWE Raw got even lower numbers.
The three-hour flagship program of WWE only averaged 2.7 million viewers on its Sept. 13 episode. NFL's viewership over two games reached over 25 million.
Here is a per-hour breakdown of Raw's viewership:
First hour: 2.833 million
Second Hour: 2.717 million
Final hour: 2.520 million
Thus, the once No. 1 cable show ranked No. 6 this week, behind the NFL, ESPN SportsCenter, Major Crimes, The O'Reilly Factor and The Kelly File.
SmackDown ratings up
Raw had a surge in ratings when Kevin Owens beat Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Big Cass for the WWE Universal Championship, but this time they lost to their opposing brand. SmackDown Live topped cable viewership this week with its post-PPV show.
Coming off the heels of a loaded Backlash 2016, WWE SmackDown on USA Network topped Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory and ESPN NFL Primetime for a 0.9 rating. Their viewership still struggles at over 2.6 million, but they are now drawing comparisons to their rival red brand.
There had been observations that SmackDown is already topping Raw in terms of booking and storytelling, which are two of the fans' biggest frustrations with the company. While Raw had ups with the impressive heel work of Kevin Owens and the women soaring to new heights, it also had a lot of downs in terms of how matches are arranged.
With that said, it is a challenge for WWE to up their game on Raw, as the USA Network could cancel the show should it continue turning audiences off. After all, cable networks rely on advert revenue and low viewership means less advertisers on board.
