TV Ratings

This page will detail the TV ratings that’s generated each week by EWR for Nitro, Thunder, RAW and Smackdown. These ratings are NOT based off the US Nielsen Ratings. There wasn’t a clear explanation in the game’s guide regarding TV ratings. But, nevertheless, TV ratings drive promotions. In fact, low ratings is one of the many reasons WCW is now just a historic relic on the “Network”.

In this game, Nitro is on Monday (duh) against RAW, and Thunder is on Thursday against Smackdown.

WEEK 1
MONDAY: RAW- 6.82, Nitro- 5.03
THURSDAY: Smackdown- 5.84, Thunder- 4.34
Obviously, Week 1 is where I was figuring out who to use, which feuds to create, etc. Of course, when you choose WCW, the WWF is going to have a huge head start in the ratings.

WEEK 2
MONDAY: RAW- 6.86, Nitro- 5.21
THURSDAY: Smackdown- 5.85, Thunder- 4.54
Week 2 saw increases in all four shows ratings, but, there’s a huge glaring difference. RAW’s rating increased 0.04 points, while Nitro increased 0.18! And, on Thursdays, Smackdown had a 0.01 point increase, and Thunder had a 0.2 increase! Ratings are drastically coming up for WCW!

WEEK 3
MONDAY: RAW- 6.90, Nitro- 5.24
THURSDAY: Smackdown- 5.84, Thunder- 4.54
Week 3 saw increases on Monday’s shows, with RAW gaining a 0.04 increase, and Nitro gaining a 0.03 increase. Thursday’s shows saw Smackdown losing 0.01 points, and Thunder staying the same.

WEEK 4
MONDAY: RAW- 7.11, Nitro- 5.27
THURSDAY: Smackdown- 5.86, Thunder- 4.64
Week 4 saw more increases. While Nitro went up another .03, RAW went up 0.21. That makes the largest increase RAW had. Smackdown went up 0.02, while Thunder gained 0.1 points.

Month 1 Summary: The good news is, Nitro is gaining viewers, with a 0.24 increase during the month. Bad news is, RAW is also gaining in the ratings, with a 0.29 increase, and now in the low 7s. The ratings battle on Thursday is definitely worth a look. Smackdown only gained 0.02 points, while Thunder gained 0.3 points! WCW may win the battle on Thursdays before summer, but the Monday Night War seems out of reach for now.

WEEK 5
MONDAY: RAW- 7.13, Nitro- 5.27
THURSDAY: Smackdown- 5.89, Thunder- 4.59
This is the final “Thursday Night War” since TBS pulled the plug on Thunder. Thunder went down .05 while Smackdown went up .03. Nitro stayed the same and RAW went up .02. With both Thunder and Saturday Night being pulled from TBS, maybe they can focus all of their efforts on Mondays.

WEEK 6
MONDAY: RAW- 7.14, Nitro- 5.47
Both shows gained ratings points this week. Raw gained 0.01, however, Nitro gained 0.2 points! This is Nitro’s highest rating since this site started! The goal, by the end of June is to have Nitro at a 6.0, and within less than 1 point of RAW.

WEEK 7
MONDAY: RAW- 7.15, Nitro- 5.42
First time RAW has increased (0.01) while Nitro decreased (0.05)

WEEK 8
MONDAY: RAW- 7.15, Nitro- 5.44
RAW stayed the same this week, while Nitro went back up 0.02 points.

WEEK 9
MONDAY: RAW- 7.19, Nitro- 5.48
RAW managed to jump 0.04 points from last week, along with Nitro.

Month 2 Summary: Both RAW and Nitro are continuing to gain viewers. However, RAW only had a 0.05 point gain during the month, while Nitro jumped 0.21 points.

WEEK 10
MONDAY: RAW- 7.10, Nitro- 5.66
Biggest drop for RAW since this blog began. Nearly a 0.1 point drop. Nitro picked up a HUGE increase in viewers, 0.18 points. At this point, we could expect to see Nitro in the low 6’s by the end of Month 4. Every month, Nitro has had around a 0.2 point increase. Will they build on this by adding a few more viewers every week?

WEEK 11
MONDAY: RAW, 7.11, Nitro- 5.62
For the first time since this blog started, Nitro LOST viewers while Raw GAINED viewers! This was the week of the Go Home show to Spring Stampede.

WEEK 12
MONDAY: RAW: 7.18, Nitro: 5.67
RAW gained 0.07 points, while Nitro gained another 0.5, rebounding from Week 11, and adding 0.01 points.

WEEK 13
MONDAY: RAW: 7.14, Nitro: 5.62
Both shows dropped in the ratings, with RAW dropping 0.04 points, while Nitro dropped 0.05 points, back to Week 11 ratings.

Month 3 Summary: Nitro had a huge gain from last month, going up from 5.48 to 5.62, a gain of 0.14 points. RAW lost 0.05 points from last month. Nitro continues to slowly gain on RAW in the ratings.

WEEK 14
MONDAY: RAW: 7.11, Nitro: 6.42
Nitro had it’s BIGGEST jump since this blog began, with a 0.8 point INCREASE! This was the episode with the return of Chris Jericho to WCW. Meanwhile, RAW felt the impact, losing 0.03 points since last month. Nitro is now 0.69 points behind RAW in the ratings!

WEEK 15
MONDAY: RAW: 7.10, Nitro: 6.48
Nitro continues their momentum, by achieving, yet again, their highest rating. Meanwhile, RAW lost 0.01 points.

WEEK 16
MONDAY: RAW: 7.18, Nitro: 6.46
Nitro lost 0.02 points in the ratings, while RAW jumped 0.08 points, largest jump they’ve had since Week 4.

WEEK 17
MONDAY: RAW: 7.14, Nitro: 6.50
Nitro, once again, gets their highest rating to date with a 0.04 increase, while RAW decreased 0.04 points.

Month 4 Summary: Nitro had its biggest ratings gain this month, going from a 5.62 to a 6.50, nearly a whole point! RAW has stayed steady in the 7.1’s. However, Nitro is now within striking distance of RAW.

WEEK 18
MONDAY: RAW: 7.18, Nitro: 6.86
Once again, Nitro had a HUGE jump in the ratings. This was the show in Atlanta.

WEEK 19
MONDAY: RAW: 7.13, Nitro: 6.85
Both shows experienced a dip in ratings, however, Nitro didn’t take much of a hit.

WEEK 20
MONDAY: RAW: 7.16, Nitro: 6.82
RAW went up in the ratings while Nitro’s rating continued to slowly slide. However, these are the best ratings Nitro has accomplished in a while.

WEEK 21
MONDAY: RAW: 7.17, Nitro: 6.48
RAW went up another 0.01 point, while Nitro tumbled 0.34 points, and this was the Go-Home Show to The Great American Bash!

WEEK 22
MONDAY: RAW- 7.13, Nitro: 6.85
RAW dipped a little in the ratings, while Nitro bounced back to the 6.8 level with their first ever “Nitro Supershow”

Month 5 Summary: Once again, Nitro continues to surge, and is now within less than 0.5 points of RAW. Even when Nitro had a horrible rating for their last show before The Great American Bash, they bounced back with their first ever “Nitro Supershow.” Will Nitro maintain their momentum and gain on RAW? RAW has been staying in the 7.10s since the last week of Month 1 (February.)