This Monday night was an historic one for Netflix, and marked its expansion into live, weekly, episodic television.
The debut episode of WWE Monday Night Raw effectively saw Netflix mirror what television was like before the streaming era arrived; it was appointment television where you tuned in as the event was being broadcast, then had to wait until next week to see what happened next.
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And after one night, the big switch for the wrestling giant and the streaming pioneer can be deemed a success. According to VideoAmp, the episode was watched by an average of 2.6 million households in the United States and 4.6 million globally (which includes the UK).
That, the Associated Press remarks, dwarves the 1.2 million average viewership on the linear cable channel USA Network in 2024, where RAW had aired for the majority of the time since 1993.
WWE says it was the most watched episode of RAW in more than five years. Part of this may be down to the months spent hyping the debut of RAW on Netflix in Los Angeles – which featured legends like The Rock, John Cena and Hulk Hogan, plus marquee matchups usually reserved for the company’s Premium Live Events (aka PPVs).
However, it may be the greater accessibility that Netflix provides over its linear television counterpart. Netflix has 84.8 million subscribers in the North America, with accessibility on a wider range of devices. It may be that people were scouring Netflix for something to watch and came across the show and gave it a shot?
At last count in late 2023, the USA Network was available to 70 million households in the United States. So, the disparity in availability probably isn’t that great. However, in many cases cable and satellite viewers still have to be in front of their televisions to watch live content. Netflix viewers can be anywhere, using everything from a phone to a tablet to a web browser to a games console.
Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen, but it’s good news for WWE out of the gate, and might encourage Netflix to invest further in live television broadcasts beyond the occasional live sports event and comedy special.
