Officials from USA Network and NBCUniversal are reportedly pleased with the immediate changes that have been made at WWE as a result of the retirement of former WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon in late July. These changes came about as a direct result of the departure of McMahon.
A longtime network source who has worked alongside WWE was quoted in a new report by Fightful Select as saying that the recent increase in RAW ratings is more in line with the numbers the network expected when they signed the new major RAW TV deal in the summer of 2018. The source also mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic changed “everything.”
It was stated once again that the network never really imagined a world in which RAW would draw less than 2 million viewers each week, with the exception of holiday episodes, and much less consistently. The source went on to say that “the following weeks [will] be the real test, but the results from the first Monday had me personally very excited.” According to the source, there was a time when they didn’t anticipate RAW to have a regular viewership of more than 2 million viewers, which is almost exactly what happened during the month of August.
A source at NBCU who follows pro wrestling more closely than others stated that they did not expect the changes to be so drastic, but the buzz generated by RAW cannot be denied. They also mentioned that they anticipated an increase in SmackDown’s ratings on FOX and added that they hoped the show would surpass the impressive viewership it had when McMahon appeared on TV following the publication of the initial scandal story in the Wall Street Journal earlier this summer.
The sources at USA Network were questioned about the course that RAW was going to take as well as the show’s content. According to one source, they themselves have experienced the show as more of an appointment viewing, and they felt that it was more natural. It was also mentioned that there is more discussion about RAW within the network, more so than there has been ever since the new rights deal was signed back in 2018.
It has been reported that a longtime employee of USA Network has stated that the relationship between WWE and USA has long been one of ease and business as usual. It was noted that a significant number of employees were pleased with the creative changes that were implemented in August after the new Executive Director of Talent Relations and Head of Creative Triple H assumed responsibility for that element of the company’s operations. The same source indicates how they’d be surprised if USA didn’t make a play to renew WWE programming next year when negotiations are expected to start, and they believe that WWE has put themselves in an even better position in the last month.
The first RAW episode to air without Vince in charge was on July 25, which featured the Rey Mysterio 25th Anniversary Celebration from Madison Square Garden. The show attracted 1.901 million viewers and received a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demographic, despite the fact that Vince most likely had some involvement in the writing of the majority of the show’s script. Following the conclusion of SummerSlam, the following week brought the first major RAW to take place without Vince, which attracted 2.230 million viewers and received a 0.61 rating in the demographic of 18-49 year olds. The episode that aired on August 8 attracted 1.956 million viewers and received a key demo rating of 0.54, the episode that aired on August 15 attracted 1.978 million viewers and received a key demo rating of 0.53, and the show that aired on August 22 attracted 2.005 million viewers and received a key demo rating of 0.55. RAW’s go-home episode for this week’s Clash at The Castle drew in 2.107 million viewers and earned a 0.59 rating among adults in the age bracket of 18 to 49, as PWMania.com reported this evening.
