A weaker NFL game than last week saw Raw increase four percent to 2.78 million viewers last night.
Unlike last week where they loaded up the third hour and it was the second hour that had a big decline, this week had two normal hours and a huge third hour decline.
The third hour did the second lowest number since June. Raw is often helped coming off a PPV but logically, even with the Shane McMahon/Daniel Bryan intrigue, that should not help the Raw number.
The Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers game did 9.41 million viewers, a drop of 20 percent from the prior week, so a small increase in Raw viewership would seem logical.
The third hour drop was consistent across every demo, and not just women and older people as is often the case. The one demo that usually holds up the best, males 12-34, still dropped six percent from hour two to hour three.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.09 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.80 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.47 million viewers
Below is a chart from Paul Fontaine that looks at Raw ratings since the start of football season and how they compare to last year: