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How bad was this week's Raw rating of 2.9? Well, for starters let's look at the last times handful of times Raw scored below a 3.0:
PAST RAW'S SCORING BELOW A 3.0 RATING
December 31, 2007 - 2.6
December 24, 2007 - 2.5
Obviously, this one is just a result of how the holidays fell on the
calendar in 2007. Raw scored a 3.5 on December 17, 2007 and a 3.2 on
January 7, 2008.
October 8, 2007 - 2.8
After pulling a 3.2 for their October 1, 2007 edition, Raw was hit with some
stiff competition on October 8th, going against a Monday Night Football game
(Dallas vs. Buffalo) and a deciding playoff series game between the New York
Yankees and Cleveland Indians. The following week, it bounced back to a
3.3.
December 25, 2006 - 2.7
Airing on Christmas Day, Raw dropped down from a 3.5 the previous week, and
came back strong the following week for a New Year's Day broadcast that scored a
3.9
July 4, 2005 - 2.6
The June 27th edition scored a 4.4 rating, and the July 11th pulled in a
3.6. You wouldn't think that July 4th would be a ratings killer holiday
the way Christmas can be, but in this case, it was.
December 20, 2004 - 2.7
This was a "Year In Review" show, not a regular edition of Raw.
With the usual live Raw format on December 13th it scored a 3.8, while on
December 27th, it pulled a 3.5.
December 31, 2001 - 2.4
New Year's Eve, with more people watching Dick Clark than Raw, saw a drop
from a 3.2 (on Christmas Eve) the previous week. The show hit a 4.9 for
the January 7th episode the following week.
December 15, 1997 - 2.7
Most of 1997 saw Raw in the 2.0's, but as the "Attitude" era
started to kick in, Raw began battling back against WCW Nitro and shooting up in
the ratings. This was the last time, until 2007, that a non-holiday
regular edition of Raw would be in the 2's.
DOES MEMORIAL DAY MAKE DIFFERENCE?
For those wondering if Memorial Day has been a ratings killer in the past,
here's the past five Memorial Day ratings for Raw:
May 28, 2007 - 3.2
The May 21st edition of Raw scored a 3.7, and the June 4th pulled in a 3.8,
so the holiday was good for a .5 ratings drop last year.
May 29, 2006 - 3.8
Memorial Day 2006 actually saw the Raw rating rise up from a 3.7 on May
22nd. The week after Memorial Day saw Raw go up even higher, to a 4.0.
May 30, 2005 - 3.8
Another Memorial Day, another case of the Raw rating going up on the
holiday, as it scored a 3.6 on May 23rd of this year. In fact, the
Memorial Day rating was higher than the following week as well, which saw a 3.7
on June 6th.
May 31, 2004 - 3.2
The May 24, 2004 edition of Raw scored a 3.5, and the June 7th pulled in a 3.4,
so there was a slight drop on the holiday this year.
May 26, 2003 - 3.7
Much like 2006 and 2005, the Raw rating went up on Memorial Day 2003, edging
up slightly from a 3.6 for the May 19, 2003 edition. The rating would
continue to climb the following week, with the June 2nd show pulling a 3.9
rating.
So, in three of the last five years, the Raw rating went UP on Memorial Day from the previous week's show. Anyone looking to blame this week's rating on the holiday needs to find a better excuse.
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