The first episode of WWE‘s “Monday Night Raw” to stream live on Netflix pulled in 4.9 million views globally.
That is according to Live+1 data provided by Netflix, with a view defined as total hours viewed for the program divided by its runtime. The 4.9 million views came from countries like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Latin America, but did not include 92 countries/territories where Netflix doesn’t yet distribute WWE, including France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.
The Netflix debut of “Raw” was also viewed by 2.6 million households in the U.S. according to VideoAmp, compared to the 1.2 million households “Raw” was averaging in 2024.
It is difficult to make a direct comparison between the Netflix and USA Network viewership for “Raw,” as linear channels measure their viewership differently than Netflix does. For the sake of some comparison, however, the final episode of “Raw” on USA Network averaged approximately 1.596 million viewers across its two-hour runtime, according to Nielsen Live + Same Day data. From the beginning of October through the end of December, “Raw” averaged approximately 1.65 million viewers per week on USA Network.
During the first “Raw” on Netflix, Roman Reigns defeated his cousin Solo Sikoa in a Tribal Combat match for the sacred ula fala and the title of Tribal Chief. Later, Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan to regain the women’s world championship title, Jey Uso defeated Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk won a brutal main event match against Seth Rollins.
The night also saw John Cena kick off his 2025 retirement tour, while Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson opened the show and later appeared alongside Reigns. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan made an appearance toward the end of the show, but was met with a barrage of boos from the crowd.
This is the latest in push by Netflix into live streaming. Previously, the streamer aired a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul that drew an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108 million live viewers globally. The event peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the US. Over Christmas, the NFL matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million viewers on Netflix, while the earlier Chiefs-Steelers bout brought in 24.1 million viewers.
source: variety.com

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January 9, 2025
WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’ Netflix Debut Draws 4.9 Million Views
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Labels: Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque Era, Raw, Television Ratings, TKO Group Holdings, Triple H, Wrestling News, WWE, WWE Netflix, WWE Network
October 2, 2024
WWE NXT Viewership Jumps 44% in CW Debut
The debut of WWE‘s NXT on The CW Tuesday night saw a significant jump in viewership.
The broadcast network debut of WWE’s weekly show featuring developmental talent averaged 895,000 viewers from 8-10 p.m. That is up 44% compared to last week’s episode, which aired on USA Network. Viewership peaked between 8:15 and 8:30 with 965,000 viewers. The episode was also the number one telecast on CW this year among adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 with 406,000 viewers and 354,000 respectively.
The viewership represented a 143% increase in total viewers over CW’s Tuesday primetime average this season, with affiliates in markets like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Detroit also notching triple digit increases in viewership versus last week.
source: variety.com
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Labels: Television Ratings, WWE, WWE NXT, WWE Womens Division
June 24, 2024
TV ratings an outdated way of measuring success in wrestling
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Labels: All Elite Wrestling, Television Ratings, TNA, WWE
June 7, 2024
Women-led ‘WWE NXT’ episode posts highest viewership figure since January
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November 7, 2023
The CW Network To Become The Exclusive Broadcast Home To WWE NXT
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Labels: Shawn Michaels, Television Ratings, Triple H, Wrestling News, WWE NXT
October 11, 2023
WWE NXT Viewership Triumphs Over AEW Dynamite in Tuesday Showdown
On October 10th, AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT clashed, with the former airing a special Title Tuesday edition featuring multiple title shifts and Adam Copeland's debut match against Luchasaurus. This came as Major League Baseball playoffs were scheduled on TBS for October 11th.
September 21, 2023
WWE’s ‘Smackdown’ to Move from Fox to USA Network in New Rights Deal
WWE’s “SmackDown” is officially set to return to USA Network in a new five-year rights deal.
The weekly show currently airs on Fox but will move to its new network home in October 2024 when the Fox deal expires. “Smackdown” originally began airing on Fox in 2019 as part of a five-year deal between the network and WWE. It had previously aired on USA Network from 2016-2019 and had a number of network homes before that, including Syfy, The CW, UPN, and MyNetworkTV.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources say the new deal is worth roughly $1.4 billion, up from the $1 billion Fox paid in 2019. As part of the new deal for “Smackdown,” WWE will produce four primetime specials per year for NBC, marking the first time that WWE will air in primetime on the network. It is unknown at this time exactly what form those primetime specials will take, i.e. if they will feature live wrestling or if they will be more documentary-focused like WWE’s programming on A&E. According to an individual with knowledge of the deal, the exact nature of the specials is still being determined.
“NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades,” said WWE president Nick Khan. “We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing ‘SmackDown’ to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.”
The rights deals for both “Smackdown” and “Monday Night Raw” were due to expire in the next year. While “Smackdown’s” future has been determined, there is no word yet on where “Raw” will land. It currently also airs on USA Network, as does WWE’s NXT. Sources say that there has been serious interest from a number of top platforms but no deal has been made at the time of this publishing. Neither of the other two shows is expected to continue to on USA Network, according to sources.
“It’s a privilege and thrill to continue NBCU’s decades-long partnership with WWE which has helped cement USA Network’s consistent position as the top-rated cable entertainment network in live viewership” said Frances Berwick, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment. “With Friday nights on USA, primetime specials on NBC, and the WWE hub on Peacock, we’ll continue to use the power of our portfolio to superserve this passionate fanbase.”
Since 2021, NBCUniversal’s Peacock has been the exclusive streaming home of the WWE Network. That includes the company’s expansive library of wrestling shows as well as the home for annual events like WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, Summer Slam, and more.
WWE was recently sold to Endeavor, which merged WWE with the UFC to form a new company dubbed TKO Group. Vince McMahon, former CEO of WWE, has assumed the role of executive chairman of TKO Group. Under the terms of the deal, McMahon — who was WWE’s controlling shareholder — will own 16.4% of the economic interests in TKO (and 16.4% of the voting power in the new entity). McMahon stepped down as WWE’s chief executive in 2022 amid an investigation by the company’s board into alleged hush-money payments to women who accused him of sexual misconduct. McMahon returned to the company in January 2023 as executive chairman to head up efforts to sell WWE.
source: variety.com
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Labels: SmackDown, Television Ratings, Wrestling News, WWE
August 11, 2023
Details On Endeavor Deal, WWE-UFC Merger And Plans For NXT
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Labels: Endeavor, Linda McMahon, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Television Ratings, TKO Group Holdings, Triple H, UFC, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE NXT
June 12, 2023
WWE Media Rights Negotiating Windows With NBCUniversal & FOX Have Ended
A report from New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reveals the exclusive WWE TV rights negotiating windows for both FOX and NBCUniversal have closed for RAW and SmackDown.
WWE is free to explore signing a deal with other networks and streaming platforms.
One of the leading streaming platforms expected to enter into talks with WWE is Amazon Prime Video. The likes of Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery may show interest but are not expected to make a play for the broadcasting rights.
In regard to traditional broadcasters, FOX and NBCU are still reportedly the favorites to retain WWE broadcast, but Disney has shown interest in WWE programming to air on FX but not ESPN, as ESPN "can’t guarantee a specific night of the week due to their rotating slate of games."
The report noted something very interesting, “One nugget I was told that may interest wrestling fans is that Warner Bros. Discovery does not have to stay exclusive to AEW. It would be something if it got in on WWE. But I don’t see it yet.”
June 8, 2023
WWE Touts Nearly 90M U.S. Fans as CEO Says “It’s Time to Monetize” With New TV Deals
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Labels: Nick Khan, Television Ratings, Triple H, Vince McMahon, Wrestling News, WWE
April 7, 2023
Analysis Shows WWE's Fan-Driven Business Metrics Improved Under Paul Levesque
However you feel about the state of WWE programming and the specifics of how shows have or haven't differed when spearheaded by Paul "Triple H" Levesque as compared to Vince McMahon, there absolutely have been differences. Levesque brought back various wrestlers who had been cut by the previous regime, and under his guidance, the last-minute changes that were constant under McMahon had subsided. Past that, it becomes a matter of personal preference and business metrics. On Thursday, Wrestlenomics offered the latter, comparing TV ratings and live attendance for Levesque's eight months running creative to how McMahon's WWE was doing a year earlier. And the answers are favorable to Levesque.
On the TV side, "WWE Raw" averaged 1.80 million viewers each week under Levesque, up 4% from McMahon a year prior, which is doubly impressive considering USA's reach among cable customers has dropped. "WWE SmackDown," meanwhile, saw a bigger increase, going up 6%, from an average of 2.14 million viewers under McMahon to 2.28 million viewers under Levesque. Since "SmackDown" is on FOX, a free broadcast network, the caveat about its potential viewership does not apply, though.
As for ticket sales, that data is from WrestleTix, which is able to count tickets distributed, but without being able to distinguish between paid admissions and comps. With that out of the way, for every month of the Levesque era, "Raw" averaged a higher number of tickets out than the McMahon regime did a year prior, and "SmackDown" did the same for all but one month, even with the latter including the initial surge in interest when WWE resumed touring after COVID-19 precautions eased. Across the full eight-month periods being compared, "SmackDown" averaged 8,555 tickets distributed for Levesque vs. 7,532 for McMahon, a 14% increase, while "Raw" averaged 8,463 tickets distributed for Levesque vs. McMahon's 6,787, a 25% increase. And though the McMahon period had a 2% lead on Levesque's for domestic house shows, that gain was carried by August through November 2021, the early months of post-pandemic touring.
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Labels: Raw, SmackDown, Television Ratings, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE
March 7, 2023
Wells Fargo Analysis Says Fox Unlikely To Renew WWE SmackDown At Increased Rights Fee
WWE's domestic television rights are up for negotiation and renewal this year for broadcasts effective September 2024. This is at least the stated reason for why Vince McMahon returned to the company's board of directors, to steer an attempt to sell the company. In particular, given the expense of sports media rights, the idea was that one distribution partner might entertain buying the company outright. Last month, though, that idea was complicated by the report that Comcast — one of the most theoretically likely buyers, with its approximately $465 million/year commitment for "WWE Raw" on USA Network and WWE Network on Peacock – was not interested in buying the wrestling company.
On Tuesday, a new wrinkle surfaced that throws another wrench into what's going on: If Fox were to renew "WWE SmackDown," it would not be at an increased rate over its current $205 million/year.
Forbes SportsMoney editor Mike Ozanian tweeted a screenshot from a presentation generated by Wells Fargo Securities analysts about WWE's domestic media rights prospects. The main takeaway was that they don't think Fox is willing to do a new deal at a higher price. He adds that it's "possible" that this could lead to the price of "SmackDown" being partially underwritten by a streaming partner in the new contract or the show outright leaving its current spot on Fox.
In May 2018, The Hollywood Reporter, in detailing the WWE/Fox negotiations, noted that Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch played heavily on the McMahon family's insecurities during their talks, including that Comcast/NBC Universal was "embarrassed by your product." His son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, laid it on thicker, reportedly adding that, in reporter Marisa Guthrie's words, that the deal "would herald the marriage of the Murdochs and the McMahons, rebel outsiders who had built media empires."
September 24, 2021
The Way TV Ratings Are Measured Is Changing, WWE & AEW To Be Impacted
August 28, 2021
Friday's WWE SmackDown Soars To Almost 3 Million Viewers On FOX
July 23, 2021
Triple H on WWE Taking a ‘Hard Look’ on How to Attract More Fans to the Product
The North State Journal recently spoke to WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque who said that WWE would “take a hard look” at how to attract more fans to the NXT product every week.
“It never is one thing. We see this as a moment in time to shift everything. I think you’ll see it in just the layout of everything, the set designs, the way it’s presented. There’s a greater emphasis on utilizing the spaces that we have and the TV aspect of it while still engaging the fans. A lot of that comes from the time we had to experiment inside the ThunderDome.”
July 22, 2021
WWE NXT Scores Best Ratings In Months Despite NBA Finals Competition
June 16, 2021
Triple H Comments On AEW Ratings ‘Lie’
In a recent sitdown with Wrestling Inc. Daily, Wrestling Inc, Axel Tishcer, formerly known to WWE and NXT audiences as Alexander Wolfe discussed his relationship with Triple H and the recently ended ‘Wednesday Night War’ between WWE NXT and All Elite Wrestling. Here, the ex-Wolfe told managing editor Nick Hausman his thoughts on the competition between the two companies, that stated how allegedly Triple H relayed to talent that USA does not care about the ever-popular 18-49 demographic like AEW and their flagship show, Dynamite does – instead putting a core focus on viewership.
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Labels: All Elite Wrestling, Television Ratings, Triple H, WWE NXT
May 22, 2021
Friday Ratings: ‘Shark Tank’ And ‘WWE Friday Night SmackDown’ Tie In Demos
ABC’s Shark Tank and Fox’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown tied in the demo wars for Friday night, with the season finale of Shark Tank edging out wrestling by virtue of its larger audience.
The Sharks in this episode included Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec
WWE Friday Night SmackDown had a Fatal 4-Way Intercontinental Championship match between Big E, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Intercontinental champion Apollo Crews as its draw.
source: deadline.com