WWE: Did Raw See an Increase in the Ratings with Shawn Michaels on the Show?

 After the 1,000th edition of Monday Night Raw, WWE was not able to carry any sort of momentum last week. The same happened for this week's Raw.

Despite having a special "Shawn Michaels Appreciation Night," the Aug. 6 edition of Monday Night Raw was essentially flat in viewership with last week's ratings (via TV By the Numbers).

Monday Night Raw was able to capture the No. 2 spot on cable television with a 1.6 adults aged 18-49 rating. The first hour of Raw had four million viewers. The second hour increased to 4.64 million viewers. The final and third hour of Raw slightly dropped off to 4.44 million viewers. 

On Monday night, Raw faced some tough competition that included the Olympic coverage, which had 26.57 million viewers tune in.

My Quick Take on Monday Night Raw

For the second straight week, Monday Night Raw saw flat ratings. Since expanding to three hours, Raw has been able to perform decently well with the final two hours of the show; however, the first hour of Raw has struggled. 

It will be interesting to see how Raw performs once the Olympic coverage is over; however, Raw will see another tough round of competition from Monday Night Football and other shows in the fall. Nevertheless, Monday Night Raw continues to be ranked highly on cable television's Top 50 list despite a sluggish start to the show.

Although I do not praise WWE's move to three hours on Monday night, it does give them the opportunity to promote new talent and remind fans of the ongoing storylines. Unfortunately for the WWE, fans do not seem to be tuning in to that first hour of the show.

Do not be surprised to see the first hour of Raw dip into around the three million viewership range in the coming episodes. This could indeed happen once the fall television competition kicks into play.