Dave Meltzer, speaking on the May 29, 2025, episode of Wrestling Observer Radio alongside Bryan Alvarez, presented a detailed critique of WWE’s reported viewership numbers for WWE RAW on Netflix. Meltzer contended that the figures are marked by inconsistencies, questionable calculations, and reporting methods that differ significantly from previous Nielsen standards.
A central point of contention is a recent claim from Netflix that only 10% of WWE RAW viewers watch the program live. Meltzer found this figure improbable, stating:
They [Netflix] claimed only 10% are watching live recently. That’s impossible. Historically, about 75% watched live. That drop doesn’t make sense People don’t change from 80% in February to 10% in May. It just doesn’t happen. Most people watch it live — especially in the U.S., on the East Coast. They’re creatures of habit.
Based on this 10% live figure, Meltzer offered an estimation of actual live viewership:
Even when I give them credit for people who re-watch or watch longer than the show length… if you use their own 10% live number, you get 270,000 homes worldwide. That’s maybe 400,000 people live — globally. So even if you generously account for time-shifted viewing, we’re still well under a million live viewers in the U.S.
Meltzer also addressed the difficulties in comparing current Netflix data with historical Nielsen ratings.
If you’re going to do a comparison with Nielsen, those foreign countries don’t count. Nielsen never counted London or India. This is U.S. numbers only. So you’ve got to subtract all of that.
Recalling viewership patterns during WWE RAW’s tenure on the USA Network, Meltzer said:
In the USA Network days, it was about 75% watched live, about 10% watched that night but not live, and the other 15% would watch later in the week. Now they’re claiming only 10% are watching live — it doesn’t work.
The discussion touched upon how “live” viewing might be defined. Alvarez questioned:
If I start watching Raw at 5:01 and hit start from beginning, I’d be watching one minute behind — does that count as live? That would count as live. Are you watching the 2.5-hour show or the commercial-free one? If you’re watching that night, even if you start a little late, it counts. So I count as one of the 90% not watching live even though I watched part of it live? Exactly. That’s the problem. It makes the 10% number ridiculous.
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The influence of international markets, particularly India, on the global figures was another point Meltzer raised.
India just jumped in recently. That 2.7 million number includes India now — that’s about 175,000 to 200,000 homes. So subtract that from U.S. estimates. You can’t compare a number that includes India to a Nielsen number that never did.
Meltzer also commented on recent viewership trends, asserting a decline.
The last two weeks have been the two lowest [viewership weeks] other than that February one. They’re way, way below last year. There was a point where we asked ‘What’s the bottom?’ And I think we’re seeing it now.
While acknowledging a potentially strong debut might have initially masked trends, he maintained:
Yes, the average may seem similar early on due to the big debut, but for the last couple of months — they’re way down.
Additionally, Meltzer noted a shift in the baseline measurement tool from Nielsen to VideoAmp. “
VideoAmp numbers are usually about 75% of Nielsen. And that’s what they’re using as the baseline. So now your baseline is already lower than what we were using last year. So again, even when I give them every benefit — more credit than they give themselves — the numbers still don’t add up.
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