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The Denver Nuggets Game 5 NBA Finals triumph over the Miami Heat on Monday drew in millions of spectators. It inadvertently caused a sharp drop in the viewership for WWE's flagship show, "Raw." The sports entertainment spectacle found itself going head-to-head with the basketball game that marked the end of the NBA season, a contest that predictably attracted a significant audience, according to the statistics gathered by ShowBuzzDaily and Wrestlenomics.
WWE's "Raw," a three-hour-long telecast, decreased 13% from the previous week, drawing an average of 1,595,000 viewers. Advertisers' most valued demographic - adults aged 18 to 49 - showed a 17% decline from the week prior, pulling in about 599,000 viewers.
This translated to a 0.46 rating in this crucial demographic, an evident dip due to the NBA game's dominance. However, it wasn't all gloom for WWE, as "Raw" still managed to top ShowBuzzDaily's rankings of Monday's cable originals.
NBA Finals Impact Raw's Viewership
Meanwhile, on ABC, the NBA championship-sealing game raked in an impressive average viewership of 13,084,000, with a 3.98 rating in the 18-49 age group. The game garnered the attention of 46.3% of men and 25.2% of women in this crucial demographic who were watching television at the time.
The influence of this competition from the NBA seemed to disrupt "Raw"'s typical viewing trend of peaking in the second hour, causing it to experience a drop instead. Wrestlenomics provides a comprehensive picture of "Raw"'s performance, tracking its viewership across various demographics compared to the median of the past four weeks.
By this standard, the most significant decline was a 38% drop among women aged 35-49, followed by a 23% decrease in adults aged 35-49. Women in the 18-49 bracket were not far behind, showing a decline of 19%, while both the general 18-49 age group and men aged 18-34 saw a 16% dip.
However, it wasn't all bad news, as the show did see gains in specific categories. The most significant was a 15% increase among female viewers aged 12-34, followed closely by an 11% boost in the women aged 18-34 demographic. This demonstrates that despite the NBA clash, WWE's "Raw" still attracted a robust viewership in specific segments.