2-3-14 Raw Rating Declines For Second Straight Week..

WWE Raw on Monday, February 3 scored a 3.15 rating, down from a 3.24 rating for the post-Royal Rumble episode of Raw. Raw was also down from a 3.46 rating for Batista's return and follow-up on Daniel Bryan's face turn two weeks ago.

WWE should be building momentum coming out of the Rumble heading into WrestleMania Season, but Raw was at the level of the previous "in-between PPVs" maintenance show on January 13, which scored a 3.12 rating.

Also, one year ago this week, Raw scored a 3.56 rating for the second Raw after the Rumble PPV.

- Raw's audience was 4.210 million viewers, down ten percent from 4.718 million viewers last week. It was the fewest viewers of the year.

Hourly Break Down: 4.428 million viewers in the first hour (viewers counted as individuals who watched at least six minutes of the hour), 4.221 million second hour viewers, and a drop to 3.983 million third hour viewers.

It was the first time in 2014 that the third hour drew fewer than four million viewers.

The hourly pattern continued a six-hour viewership decline.

1/27 Hour 1 - 4.849 million viewers
1/27 Hour 2 - 4.837 million viewers
1/27 Hour 3 - 4.470 million viewers
2/3 Hour 1 - 4.428 million viewers
2/3 Hour 2 - 4.221 million viewers
2/3 Hour 3 - 3.983 million viewers

- On cable TV Monday night, Raw ranked #1 in overall viewers and in the key male demos. However, the week-to-week picture was not good.

Raw was down two-tenths of a rating in adults 18-49, three-tenths in males 18-49, and two-tenths in males 12-34.

Caldwell's Analysis: There are any number of factors to consider when looking at this decline. One is the absence of a big name returning to the fold a la The Rock in recent years. Another is fan frustration/anger turning into tune-out. Another is the absence of top star John Cena. Another is a significant amount of casual/irregular viewers decided this was a skippable week. Another is general lack of interest in the current product right now, especially without a clear WrestleMania Match being built to outside of Randy Orton vs. Batista. Another is the show was complete maintenance bordering on three hours of filler, which assuredly hurt the third hour. Another is WWE has presented Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton so many times - even asking $165 + tax to see it on PPV last year - that it's not a special main event anymore. The reasons are numerous. So, it will be interesting to see if WWE comes up with a better effort next week.