Raw’s numbers take big drops against NBA Finals, still top cable

Last Monday, Raw took advantage of a basketball-free night and deliver some of the show’s best numbers in months.

This week (Mon., June 12), WWE’s red brand was up against Game 5 of the NBA Finals. It wasn’t a very pretty game, but it did turn out to be a close one that crowned a champion. The main thing for our purposes is that it was watched by more than 13 million people, and produced a 3.98 rating among 18-49 year olds for ABC.

Denver’s title win was almost certainly a factor in Raw’s performance. The show averaged 1,595,000 viewers and a .46 in the demo across its three hours. That’s a 13% week-to-week decline in total audience, and an 18% drop in 18-49. They’re also Raw’s worst numbers since January when it went up against the NFL Playoffs.

Raw’s numbers declined throughout the night, likely as the game stayed close and fans tuned in to see Nuggets’ star Nikola Jokic celebrate his & the franchise’s first NBA championship:

Hour One: 1.75 million / .50
Hour Two: 1.60 million / .46
Hour Three: 1.44 million / .42

Despite those drops, Raw easily won the night on cable. Outside of ABC’s basketball coverage, it was also the highest rated program on all of television.

Unless the Florida Panthers can win the next two games in the Stanley Cup Finals, next Monday will kick off a summer largely free of nationally televised sports competition for Raw.

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