More On Low WWE RAW Rating, Financial Site On WWE Stock Rising Despite Ratings Decline, More

- As noted earlier, last Monday's episode of WWE RAW garnered a 2.21 rating. While the rating was up 2% from last week's 2.16, it was still the second lowest rated RAW since September 8, 1997. It should be noted that the average RAW rating in the fall / winter of 1997 (September 8 – December 29) against both Monday Night Football and WCW Monday Nitro was a 2.8.

- Seeking Alpha has a good article here looking at WWE stock surging 58% over the past year despite ratings being at an 18-year low. It noted that while RAW's ratings have fallen by 49% from 2002 until now, the average prime-time network TV ratings have dropped even more than that in the same period. The article also noted that while the ratings decline might be OK, the USA Network and parent company Comcast care about ratings and will be taking a close look at them when their deal with WWE expires in 2018. They also quoted Vince Russo's comments about RAW being an important promotional tool from his recent Nuclear Heat podcast right here on Wrestling Inc.:

"For argument's sake, say ratings aren't important anymore," Russo said. "Well, what's important? The WWE Network is important. Well, where are they drawing potential customers from? Obviously, they're drawing potential customers from the people who watch Monday Night Raw! So even if you say ratings don't matter, as that pool goes down more and more on Monday nights, there are your potential WWE Network subscribers."

- Insider Monkey has a story at this link about hedge funds being bullish about WWE stock.