Ratings Thread

[Tom Guycott]

USA Network probably views the 24/7 stuff as a success since it means one of their ideas actually works even if it supposedly was the "least bad one" given. WWE just needs to find a way to transition it into becoming additional tv viewers that stick around.

Prob'ly the easiest would be to make the wrestling show a wrestling show instead of, as it was phrased in Wrestling Isn't Wrestling, "a show about a wrestling show". But that would be too much like work. And also make sense.

[Mr. Nerfect]

While WWE is on cable, they're playing the Nielson game. That's how their TV is going to be judged. If you don't want to be judged by your cable presence, get off cable, lol. It's true that people are cutting chords, and if the estimate is that 35% of cable's audience is going to cut, then you'd look at Raw's ratings, comparatively, with that in mind. Which is what most people do.

I don't know why WWE performing badly on a dying medium alleviates criticisms of its dwindling popularity. Being in a dying medium is itself a problem.

[Destor]

And yet those in the industry, whos entire business models have been based on neilson for decades, are moving away from Neilson.

[Destor]

And if you "look at RAWs ratings comparatively with the 35% drop off in mind " then viewership isnt down at all. You cant do that though because youd be averaging nonsequitor percentages and weve already been through the math on that.

For example wrestling has always done well in the south and the south is cord cutting less so without any data there's no reasonable way to ascertain what % is watching through other platforms. Its reasonable to conclude is less than 35% given historical data...but what do we actually know?

The only we can clearly say is they had a youtube video this week seen by twice the audience who watched the live show within 3 hours of the upload.

So something seems a bit off

[Destor]

I just dont understand how you lot arent questioning ratings when the entire industry is. There's a loyalty that is completely unearned.

[Destor]

The only we can clearly say is they had a youtube video this week seen by twice the audience who watched the live show within 3 hours of the upload.

And before im taken out of context again thats not a claim that theyre ratings are down 50% of the actual. Im meerly saying these numbers seems suspicious and objectively i feel like im missing a lot of data. Enough so that i wouldnt be so bold as to draw conclusions from either.

[BigCrippyZ]

Nielsen also measures viewers on most digital and streaming services including Netflix, Hulu, Youtube TV, Prime Video, etc.

Also, Nielsen's cost ($10 million for CBS for example) vs measurement accuracy has been criticized in the TV industry for over a decade, but only by broadcasters who claim it under counts viewers, particularly in certain local markets, and thus result in lower ad rates being paid. Unless and until most or all of the ad agencies also stop using and paying Nielsen to determine what they charge broadcasters, Nielsen's impact on and importance to TV isn't going anywhere.

I don't have any stake in Nielsen or care what happens to them. I also don't doubt that their audience measurement ability is flawed or imperfect and that viewers are going and going to continue to move to streaming services and Youtube, etc. However, to say that Nielsen just lost track of viewers who are dropping cable, etc., and that's why TV and WWE's numbers are dropping, thus Nielsen is flawed and irrelevant, is just uninformed and incorrect.

Hell most of the posts on this past page about Nielsen are wrong based on uninformed speculation about what and how Nielsen works. See no further than: Nielsen data is missing = Nielsen numbers are suspicious = Nielsen is fatally flawed, no longer relevant, and shouldn't be trusted. Of course data is missing, you have to be a paying customer to get access to it.

[Destor]

According to netflix Neilsons claims are bullshit and raw frequently is the chart topper in the "social content views" and twitter engagement analytics. So which numbers are good? The tv rating, which is bad, or the social media, which is good?

[Destor]

Also neilson data is public you dont have to pay to get it. You pay to have the study done.

[Destor]

And if you really think neilson isnt going anywhere you arent paying attention. At all. Thats a powerfully uninformed srance ya got there.

[Destor]

Neilson stock in 2014 was 48.42 today it sits at 23.41

Income is down 40.28% ytd
Net profit is down 38.48% ytd

yeah there's no underlining problem at all...

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zL48ecvX2NkW1cU0FEfgrCc7Rgo=/0x0:900x500/920x613/filters:focal(378x178:522x322):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49493993/this-is-fine.0.jpg

[Destor]

TL;DR using cable ratings in 2019 should embarrass your math teachers.

[Loose Cannon]

I'll admit, i love coming into this thread and seeing that the rating went down because i quit watching the product because i think it's shit. so it's nice to see them on their ass.

However, i know that TV ratings is not the end all be all in 2019. The E has so many other avenues of revenue AND ways to watch their programming now and days that the TV rating really doesn't give you the whole picture. hell you can pretty much watch the episode of RAW from the night before by watching 9 clips on You Tube . That's what i do now. I'll read the results, see what was decent and pull up You Tube.

What i would like to see sf the ticket sales numbers I think that's a better # then tv ratings. That PPV in Washington last week looked like they didn't sell shit. that's a more jarring number then the tv rating decline

[slik]

I always have enjoyed, whether they are up or down, seeing the ratings, social media views, tickets sold, etc.

Just one of those things I've always personally been interested in, across all the metrics.

[slik]

Kind of related but I was thinking about yesterday a story of how Generation Z doesn't really watch movies (supposedly). It was from a NY Times interview with filmakers iirc. I found it a little odd since I can't see why they wouldn't watch Netflix, Hulu, etc if they had access to them and I've seen tons of people under 18 at the movies, in particular big event things like The Avengers, Pixar, Crazy Rich Asians, horror flix, etc. A lot of filmakers mentioned how they have had to change cinematography on other films now since they realize a lot of people will watch them on their phone vs a big screen.

Anyways, where I was going w/ that is it talked about how Generation Z is more likely to watch YouTube, IGTV (Instagram TV), Snaps, TikTok, etc -- essentially either someone cutting a promo to quick cuts (YT) or short-form videos like the other things listed. It got me to wondering how WWE and wrestling in general will be able to fit into that concept more as time goes on.

[slik]

Anyone w/ kids -- do your offspring watch more stuff on their phone than TV?

[Loose Cannon]

^ Oh yeah I love this thread, so definitely keep on posting. it's one of my fav threads to come to every week haha.

I don't know if i believe they don't watch movies as much as the article was alluding too, but i do believe there's a definite uptick in people just watching clips or summaries on you tube or whatever vs watching an entire program. Heck, I am in my 30's and do it all the time. It's hard for me to sit through and hr or 2 of anything anymore. I only really watch movies on planes. i can't remember the last movie i watched at my house. Probably Birdbox lol

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'll admit, i love coming into this thread and seeing that the rating went down because i quit watching the product because i think it's shit. so it's nice to see them on their ass.

However, i know that TV ratings is not the end all be all in 2019. The E has so many other avenues of revenue AND ways to watch their programming now and days that the TV rating really doesn't give you the whole picture. hell you can pretty much watch the episode of RAW from the night before by watching 9 clips on You Tube . That's what i do now. I'll read the results, see what was decent and pull up You Tube.

What i would like to see sf the ticket sales numbers I think that's a better # then tv ratings. That PPV in Washington last week looked like they didn't sell shit. that's a more jarring number then the tv rating decline

The thing is, they really don't have a lot of successful revenue streams. They're reliant on that TV rights money. I suppose the Saudis pay big too. Everything else is down and I think it's accepted that if they didn't have that TV money, WWE would not be turning a profit.

Despite what Destor's saying, WWE needs its TV, which means the metrics that measure it are the most important thing. I don't understand the red herring of "Nielson isn't the best indicator of what kids are doing." It's irrelevant to the conversation. They get their money from NBC Universal and FOX. Their standing with them matters. If the kids aren't watching because they spend more time on their phones, then that's its own issue, and it is an issue, and I don't see how that helps WWE at all, considering what they want are viewers so that their TV is valuable.

If these amazing social media numbers were somehow translating to ticket sales, Network subscriptions or merchandise sales, it would be a lovely point about how WWE's business strategy is changing -- but it's not and they're still very much reliant on that TV audience that just isn't there.

Unfortunately, because I also like seeing them get their just desserts, I have a feeling that with Bonnie Hammer heading up the NBC Universal streaming app, WWE producing live content every week is going to be useful for that, and they're going to get paid out the ass next time that contract is up to provide content that can go on that as well as on Hulu and USA Network through the death rattle of cable. The one thing Destor said that is a pretty good point is that we are one idea away from everything changing. It's possible that WWE begin making money in an entirely new way and can keep paying big juicy dividends to their investors. Except the problem is that they are facing a popularity issue (as reflected by not only TV metrics, but those other failing revenue streams). The product is bad and people are getting sick of it. Fewer people are watching. The WWE is burning out more and more people. It's not some loyalty to Nielson that has people blinded.

[BigCrippyZ]

Also neilson data is public you dont have to pay to get it. You pay to have the study done.

:lol:

Wow.

Um... ad agencies and cable and broadcast networks literally pay an annual data licensing fee (that's literally the defined term and usually the 3rd or 4th heading in their contracts) to get way more data and analytics than are released to the public. It's a part of every Nielsen agreement, both the purchasing analytics and the viewing analytics contracts, and is typically based on the size of the customer. It's their core business model and product.

Also, the data licensing fees (and thus Nielsen's revenues) have been dropping because Nielsen's competitors (especially among broadcasters) have been offering apparently "more accurate" data at less cost.

[slik]

Ratings for RAW are in:


Hr 1 - 2.47
Hr 2 - 2.68
Hr 3 - 2.35

Avg. - 2.5 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)




Most watched on YT:

Braun/Lashley destroy RAW set - 2 million
Undertaker attacks Shane - 1.3 million
Braun/Lashley stretchered out - 1.2 million
Drake wins 24/7 Title - 854k
Ricochet vs AJ Styles - 625k

[Emperor Smeat]

Pretty good weekly increase along with it taking all Top 3 spots for demo rankings.

Even the 1st-to-3rd hour decrease was a lot better than in recent months.

[slik]

Live RAW ratings delayed until tomorrow due to 4th of July.



Currently most watched on YT:

* Roman/Gary vs. Shane/Drew - 1.5 million

* Becky/Seth vs. Zelina/Andrade - 608k

* Drake "no consummation" - 402k

[slik]

Hr 1 - 2.38
Hr 2 - 2.35
Hr 3 - 2.32

Avg - 2.35 million

credit - showbuzzdaily

[Emperor Smeat]

That's one of the smallest 1st to 3rd hour drops in a long while.

Also one of those Good-Bad weeks in the sense it did a good job of retaining viewers throughout the show but did a bad job of generating interest for more viewers to latch on during it.

[Big Vic]

That proves that the 24/7 title is a draw.

[slik]

SDLive had 1.85 million viewers.

credit: showbuzzdaily

Most Watched on YT:

Roman vs Dolph - 1.4 million
KO promo - 956k
KO/Dolph brawl - 569k

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for RAW are in:

Hr 1 - 2.38
Hr 2 - 2.50
Hr 3 - 2.48

Avg - 2.45 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Bray attacks Finn - 1.6 million
Drake Maverick's hotel - 1.3 million
Battle Royal - 1.2 million

[Emperor Smeat]

Bit surprised the 3rd hour did that well considering it had the really bad women's 4-way match going on for a good chunk of it and then the start of a potential Miz-Ziggy feud nobody asked for.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It doesn’t mean people liked those things. They may not be back after sticking around and getting rewarded with *that*.

[slik]

The highest Live TV rating for SDLive in a long time.

2.12 million viewers

(credit - showbuzzdaily)



Most Watched on YT:

KO attacks Shane - 1.6 million
KO vs Dolph - 642k
New Day vs Orton/Elias/Joe - 587k

[mike adamle]

TL;DR using cable ratings in 2019 should embarrass your math teachers.

Even if those math teachers are using common core?

[slik]

The ratings grab worked, first time in a long time RAW cracked 3 million Live TV viewers:


Hr 1 - 3.02
Hr 2 - 3.18
Hr 3 - 3.08

Avg - 3.09 million




Most Watched on YT:

Austin/Hogan - 1.6 million
DX/The Kliq - 1.6 million
John Cena - 952k

[Emperor Smeat]

For some reference, last year's RAW 25 special did around 4.5 million for its average.

WWE probably going to exploit RAW Reunion's number big time for their upcoming investor's meeting this week. They desperately needed a strong number this week to show as proof Vince can fix RAW's ratings woes even if it won't last.

Them timing the meeting to happen this week and not next week when RAW likely is going to suffer a big drop is also very beneficial to them.

[Evil Vito]

Yeah, they'll drop like 600k viewers next week since they failed to give people any reason to tune in for the next show.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for SDLive this week:

2.16 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Roman vs KO - 2 million
Bray/Balor - 1 million
Dolph/HBK - 652k

[slik]

This weeks Raw Ratings:



Hr 1 - 2.41
Hr 2 - 2.32
Hr 3 - 2.23

Avg - 2.32 million

credit - showbuzzdaily




Most Watched on YT:

Samoan Summit - 2.88 million
Brock attacks Seth 1 - 1.47 million
Brock attacks Seth 2 - 1.46 million

[Emperor Smeat]

Pretty bad number overall since not only did it lose all of last week's bump, which was expected, it also managed to be lower than the week before in terms of regular shows.

Also lost out on the coveted #1 hour ranking to blood rival Love & Hip Hop show.

[Loose Cannon]

just shows you how little people value the current product.

[slik]

Live TV Rating for SDLive this week:

1.9 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)

Most Watched on YT:

Roman attacked by crates - 1.2 million
KO vs Drew - 978k
Kofi vs AJ - 547k

[#1-norm-fan]

Roman attacked by crates? Is the star power on the roster so thin that guys are feuding with inanimate objects now?

[Emperor Smeat]

"Roman attacked by crates" is probably the nicest thing you could say about that segment last night.

Easily a strong contender for worst ever ending to a WWE show and everything about it was pretty terrible.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8i6tEi_zmyA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Missing from that video is the production botch at the start and Reigns awkward walk away at the end.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Not surprised that people watched the Raw Reunion and didn't come back. Heard Raw was pretty good with some Heyman ideas. It's a shame.

[slik]

Up this week:


Hr 1 - 2.41
Hr 2 - 2.57
Hr 3 - 2.44

Avg - 2.47 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)



Most Watched on YT:

Goldberg - 2.6 million
Joe checks on Roman - 1.8 million
Brock beats up Rollins - 1.2 million

[Emperor Smeat]

Bit surprised the 2nd hour did that well. Personally thought it was bad overall outside of the 6-man tag. 1st hour was a lot more interesting in terms of content.

If usual yearly trends follow, next week is likely going to be the last big week of the year for RAW.

[slik]

SDLive


2.08 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Roman attacks Buddy - 2.6 million
Shane attacks KO - 711k
Dolphberg - 675k

[slik]

Big jump for RAW



Hr 1 - 2.77
Hr 2 - 2.82
Hr 3 - 2.60

Avg - 2.73 million

(credit - showbuzzdaily)

Most Watched on YT:

Sasha Banks returns- 1.6 million
AJ vs Seth - 1.4 million
24/7 Title changes hands - 997k

[Emperor Smeat]

Depending on the reception to the KotR tournament, that's probably the final high mark for RAW this year based on annual trends. Survivor Series tends to be the weakest of the Big 4 shows when it comes to generating a bigger than usual post-PPV bump and football starts next month.

[slik]

SDLive had 2.16 million viewers

credit - showbuzzdaily


Most Watched on YT:

Roman vs Buddy - 1.5 million
DBry/Roman - 860k
Buddy lied - 701k

[slik]

Raw had 2.53 million viewers

[Emperor Smeat]

Even with the excuse of the NFL pre-season starting, an almost 200k drop is still pretty bad considering all of the hype for the start of the KotR.

[slik]

SDLive did 2.14 million viewers

(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

DBry reveals bad driver - 1.4 million
KO vs Elias - 821k
DBry vs Buddy - 640k

[slik]

RAW



Hr 1 - 2.64
Hr 2 - 2.69
Hr 3 - 2.27

Avg - 2.53 million viewers

(credit - showbuzzdaily)



Most Watched on YT:

AJ vs Braun - 2.3 million
Seth/Braun talk - 690k
Sasha vs Natalya - 510k

[Emperor Smeat]

Worst 3rd hour drop since Heyman took over and wouldn't be surprised if the tag team turmoil match was the reason people tuned out in droves since it was barely entertaining.

Also didn't help nothing really interesting happened in the 3rd hour besides Cesaro vs Cedric.

[slik]

Ratings for SDLive are in:

2.09 million viewers

(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Roman attacks DBry - 2 million
Drake wins 24/7 Title - 1 million
Orton attacks Kofi - 618k

[EIWF]

How those attitude era ratings show how many people have switched off wrestling completely.

[slik]

RAW:

Hr 1 - 2.64
Hr 2 - 2.56
Hr 3 - 2.33

Avg - 2.51 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
OC interrupts Braun/Seth - 2.2 million
Bayley attacks - 1.5 million
Bray video - 1.1 million

[Emperor Smeat]

Considering it was a holiday and the final week before they get hammered by football, those are decent numbers. 3rd hour having a lower drop and also being stronger than the week before helped a lot.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for SDLive are in:

2.13 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Rowan attacks - 3.2 million
Bayley/Sasha attack - 910k
24/7 Title - 887k

[slik]

It's definitely football season



Live TV Ratings for WWE RAW are in:

Hr 1 - 2.36
Hr 2 - 2.18
Hr 3 - 1.85

Avg - 2.13 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

10-Man Tag - 1.1 million
Austin Moderates - 950k
Horsewomen Tag - 764k

[Triple A]

Damn... Shockingly low

Interesting that a meaningless 10 man tag team match doesn't draw in the 3rd hour

[Triple A]

Last year's show against the first Monday Night Football games drew 2,740,000... So this show with Stone Cold doing this terribly is not a good sign for the rest of the season.........

[slik]

I believe this might be the lowest rating for a non-holiday episode of RAW. The previous low rating for a non-holiday ep was 2.16 IIRC

[Emperor Smeat]

Considering the effort done to stack the show, that has to be the biggest swing-and-miss by WWE in a while.

What hurt WWE a lot was the Texans vs. Saints game being very competitive and had a hot finish.

[slik]

Comparison from Wrestling Observer board of the raw demos from 3 1/2 years ago and now:


https://i.postimg.cc/RhFs5ymj/WWE-010816-M12-34.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/pTVkz4mp/WWE-090919-M12-34.jpg

[Mr. Nerfect]

That’s pretty brutal. Raw is about to get less important too. People say it is going to be fine, but WWE have always only been able to favor one, and NXT will be prioritized. It will be interesting. But Heyman might be left to his own devices more.

[Droford]

Considering the effort done to stack the show, that has to be the biggest swing-and-miss by WWE in a while.

What hurt WWE a lot was the Texans vs. Saints game being very competitive and had a hot finish.

Football game also had an hour head start unlike usual MNF that doesnt start til almost 8:30, so the end of the game was up against the end of the 9:00 hour into 10:00 vs usual end of 10:00 into past when RAW goes off and there was a 2nd game on fior the rest of 10:00

they should compare the last couple years of RAW vs the MNF doubleheader.

[slik]

Sounds like RAW could bounce back a little next week in that case....curious to see if NXT gets a big push/character intro videos on RAW next week ahead of it's debut or if they keep the same commercials they have been airing.

[Droford]

Itd be crazy to think that Smackdown on Friday on fox could get better ratings than RAW. I can see over 2 million for SD on fox

[slik]

Interesting observations on YT metrics for WWE

Big names from the past not passing 2 million within a day (Austin/Taker). Almost as if WWE is bringing back older stars too often.

Bray vids on YT not passing 2 million within a day either...Bray from RAW currently at 430k views.

[slik]

SDLive



2.06 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Roman/Rowan - 2.1 million
Undertaker/Sami Zayn - 1 million
Gable/Shane - 781k

[Emperor Smeat]

Came pretty close to matching RAW this week which is more of an indication of how badly RAW did this week than Smackdown having a great show (it didn't).

[#1-norm-fan]

Lol What the hell is 90 Day Fiancé?

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s a unique strategy to make SD the A-show by shaving half-a-million viewers off Raw.

[slik]

A reality show where two people meet and have 90 days to get to know each other before they get married

[slik]

U.S. TV Ratings system getting slightly changed for TV, will it show a slight increase for #WWE ?

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/238867/nielsen-to-include-out-of-home-viewing-soon/

[Emperor Smeat]

Probably but doubt WWE is getting as high of an increase Nielsen is predicting for sports. Places like bars are more likely going to have football than RAW on during the season.

Even if RAW got the 11% increase, that puts this week's RAW at 2.3 million and still well below last week's numbers.

[slik]

Raw up 140k viewers



Hr 1 - 2.42
Hr 2 - 2.32
Hr 3 - 2.08

Avg - 2.27 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Bray/Kane - 1 million
R-Truth/Kane - 844k
Bray promo - 675k

[#1-norm-fan]

As far as Monday Night Football competition goes, last night was probably their best chance to benefit for the rest of the year. It was a pretty bad game between two perennial bad teams that aren’t known as major ratings draws.

[Emperor Smeat]

The PPV bump is good but that 3rd hour is still a big killer for RAW. If it wasn't for USA Network being terrible at creating new hit shows, that 3rd hour should have been junked with the new tv deal.

Also 90 Day Fiance pretty much replaced Love & Hip Hop as the new random show that gives WWE the most trouble for rankings.

[xrodmuc316]

As far as Monday Night Football competition goes, last night was probably their best chance to benefit for the rest of the year. It was a pretty bad game between two perennial bad teams that aren’t known as major ratings draws.

Actually Browns/Jets was up 7% from last year's week 2 MNF game.

Baker Mayfield pops ratings, get over it bro!

YPI0Z7p7Kf8

[slik]

SD



2.06 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Brock/Kofi - 1.1 million
Rowan & Harper attack - 1 million
KO/Shane - 749k

[slik]

NXT Ratings are in



1.18 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Imperium attacks - 139k
Dream vs Strong - 135k
Lio vs Oney - 131k

[Triple A]

Interesting...

[Emperor Smeat]

USA Network and WWE have to be very pleased.

Managed to be at the level and maybe even a bit more than what Suits was doing this season and its a strong base number for the series going forward.

Considering the issues the Network had at the start of the 2nd hour, probably had around 750k to a million people logging in at the same time.

Also ended up being over 300k more than the NXT special on USA Network a couple years ago for some comparisons.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Great start. It will be interesting to see if this is something they can build on.

[slik]

RAW



Hr 1 - 2.37
Hr 2 - 2.21
Hr 3 - 2.04

Avg - 2.21 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:

Bray attacks Braun - 1.5 million
Carmella wins 24/7 Title - 1 million
Fatal 5-Way - 772k

[Emperor Smeat]

One of those Good/Bad type weeks but where the bad outweighs the good.

The good being that the show itself was pretty good and the overall drop was very small.

The bad being the numbers started at and were all lower than last week and maybe could have generated a bit more interest had WWE actually bothered to hype up this week as a "season finale." Then you have the lingering issues of all the damage caused by Vince's stupid rules and Heyman being a mixed bag in terms of improving show quality.

[slik]

Final SD on USA


2.10 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
Roman/Dbry unite - 859k
KO/Shane talk - 570k
Sasha attacks Becky - 425k

[Emperor Smeat]

NXT ended up with slightly over 1 million viewers (1.006 million) but also dropped from 4th to 8th in the rankings compared to last week for the USA Network hour.

[slik]

^^^ and only 320k of those viewers were in the 18-49 demographic

[#1-norm-fan]

What percentage of Raw/Smackdown viewers are 18-49?

[slik]

For this week:


NXT

https://i.imgur.com/mUVDGHj.png


SMACKDOWN

https://i.imgur.com/VXLdCJA.png


RAW

https://i.imgur.com/lLWQr1x.png

[xrodmuc316]

Another million views in the bank for NXT!

AEW's response...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m just gonna leave this here.....WALTER=worst wrestling name ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustSayin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JustSayin</a></p>&mdash; Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmJericho/status/1177108479720509441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice one "Chris" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Triple A]

^^^ and only 320k of those viewers were in the 18-49 demographic

0.32 rating in the 18-49 demo just means that 0.32% of all people 18-49 in the US who have access to TV watched the show

[slik]

probably like 10,000 people 18-49 watched nxt then

damn!!

[Triple A]

Nah, let's say there are like 150,000,000 people 18-49 in the US with a TV (just guessing), that would mean 480,000 people 18-49 watched

[xrodmuc316]

It actually means .32 is the estimate based on the incredibly small sample size of like 10,000 households that actually have a Nielsen box...

[Emperor Smeat]

According to WrestlingInc, the 173k drop NXT had this week was enough to tumble their overall viewership down to #31 compared to last week's #19 ranking.

The million range mark (+/- 150k) is probably where NXT is going to hover around for at least the next few months. Maybe dip even more in the lower end depending if AEW doesn't succeed well in bringing back lapsed fans and/or eats too much into NXT's audience.

[#1-norm-fan]

Another million views in the bank for NXT!

AEW's response...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m just gonna leave this here.....WALTER=worst wrestling name ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustSayin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JustSayin</a></p>&mdash; Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmJericho/status/1177108479720509441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice one "Chris" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That isn’t from AEW.

And his name isn’t just “Chris”.

[Tom Guycott]

Another million views in the bank for NXT!

AEW's response...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m just gonna leave this here.....WALTER=worst wrestling name ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustSayin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JustSayin</a></p>&mdash; Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmJericho/status/1177108479720509441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice one "Chris" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I get that this is for heat, but to a point, I kinda agree with him.

However, a huge part of it has to do with the tone with which his name is said, and if the proper Germanic W pronounciation is used. That's all the difference needed to differentiate between someone who can potentially headline WrestleMania in a few years, and sounding like just some guy who is about to prepare your income taxes.

[Tom Guycott]

That isn’t from AEW.

And his name isn’t just “Chris”.

Yeah, the counterpoint would be more valid if this were from Cody.

[Droford]

Another million views in the bank for NXT!

AEW's response...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m just gonna leave this here.....WALTER=worst wrestling name ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustSayin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JustSayin</a></p>&mdash; Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmJericho/status/1177108479720509441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice one "Chris" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohs4yX9rA1MQ8EoCI/giphy.gif

I tweeted a different pic at him though..

[slik]

Live TV Ratings are in for WWE's Friday special on FOX -- Smackdown's Greatest Hits


1.39 million
18-49 Demo Rating - .4
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched Shows of Fri Night were:
Blue Bloods - 7.82 million
Hawaii Five O - 6.80 million
Magnum P.I. - 6.36 million

[slik]

Raw did 2.57 this week

[Emperor Smeat]

Hours were 2.7 (8pm), 2.59 (9pm), and 2.41 (10pm)

Pretty good numbers overall and it also managed to get a rare win over the 90 Day Fiance show.

RAW should get a bump next week because of the Cell PPV but that's probably going to be the high mark for the rest of the year and football season.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I almost went 2.5 in the predictions, but I guess it's closer to 2.6 anyway.

[Emperor Smeat]

Preliminary ratings number for both AEW and NXT was released earlier in the day from Neilsen.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WEDNESDAY NIGHT WARS<br>According to overnight ratings from Nielsen, <a href="https://twitter.com/AEWrestling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AEWrestling</a> did a 0.7 and <a href="https://twitter.com/WWENXT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWENXT</a> did a 0.5. Will be interesting to see how that translates to viewership.</p>&mdash; Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsrapport/status/1179764666064609281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Still possible that NXT could end up with the higher viewership due to how the demos sort out.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for AEW and NXT are in



AEW - 1.4 million
18-49 viewers: 878k

NXT - 891k
18-49 viewers: 414k

(credit - The Wrap)

[Emperor Smeat]

Kind of crazy that AEW actually managed to beat NXT in its first week and how huge the gap was in terms of overall viewers and demo.

Even more crazy when you consider the all out effort done by NXT these past 3 weeks in terms of matches and hype and it still managed to get trounced that badly.

Next week should be interesting to see what type of drop AEW gets and if things start to level out in terms of them being a lot closer in numbers.

[xrodmuc316]

I'm confused how the numbers for both went up over 1 million viewers from the initial reports.

Either way I'm happy with it, much more respectable numbers.

[Triple A]

:y:

Hope AEW continues to grow and build an audience...

[#1-norm-fan]

Holy shit. It wasn't even close. Didn't see that coming.

[Sepholio]

I figured as much. A lot of hype behind them and it's their first TV show. NXT is already established and people know what it is and that it's going to still be there. I think the numbers will get much closer together over the next couple months though.

[Evil Vito]

A-E-DUB! A-E-DUB! A-E-DUB!

[#1-norm-fan]

I figured as much. A lot of hype behind them and it's their first TV show. NXT is already established and people know what it is and that it's going to still be there. I think the numbers will get much closer together over the next couple months though.

I figured they would win in the ratings once the interest seemed so one-sided last night.

But coming in, I couldn't see a show with the WWE brand behind it being beaten in the ratings by any other wrestling show. Much less beaten handily. Congrats AEW. Don't screw the pooch.

[#1-norm-fan]

Before NXT announced they were gonna go head-to-head with them, I thought 1 million would be a good number. They got 1.4 million WITH NXT eating into the number. That's pretty crazy.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From multiple sources:<br><br>The debut episode of All Elite Wrestling did 109,000 viewers on TSN 2. <br><br>Was described to me as a good number. <br><br>The premiere also went against the Leafs vs. Senators game in Canada.</p>&mdash; John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnpollock/status/1179869425127886864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mr. Nerfect]

That number isn’t shocking at all. If they’re getting 63k domestic PPV buys and that’s about 5% of the audience, then that’s 1.4 million. I expected them to eventually land on that number, but expected them to start stronger.

[Ben Rodrigues]

I've always been curious how age demographics are calculated. If someone could enlighten me I would be most appreciative.

[Droford]

The part that might worry Vince more isn't AEW vs NXT ratings..It's AEW vs RAW ratings. AEW was only about 800,000 below what RAW gets at it's worst lately

[BigCrippyZ]

WWE has essentially lost (during most weeks, myself included,) a lot of their own audience through years of repetitive awful writing and booking. Those folks know what they're going to get from WWE, Vince & Co., and over 95% of it is going to be garbage.

Some of those folks (who are still wrestling fans) probably turned into AEW. Then you have those WWE viewers who stuck with the awful WWE product more often than not but who also still aren't really enjoying WWE and likely feel like WWE's product is garbage but watch WWE out of habit and/or because nothing better is on. Then you also have wrestling fans who will watch whatever wrestling they can find.

If, and in fairness, that's a BIG IF, but if AEW can build on what they did on Wednesday, they can slowly steal some (and maybe more and more) WWE viewers, and also bring in some new viewers as well.

[Emperor Smeat]

I've always been curious how age demographics are calculated. If someone could enlighten me I would be most appreciative.

Its sort of like how opinion polls are done with getting a certain amount of people participating and some basic personal data to create the sampling needed.

Then from there its just finding out what those people watched each day and plugging the data into equations to get the projected numbers and demo breakdowns.

When I got contacted to do it a few years ago, mine was book based instead of devices connected to every tv in the house. Was used for some other ratings stuff they tracked.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Its sort of like how opinion polls are done with getting a certain amount of people participating and some basic personal data to create the sampling needed.

Then from there its just finding out what those people watched each day and plugging the data into equations to get the projected numbers and demo breakdowns.

When I got contacted to do it a few years ago, mine was book based instead of devices connected to every tv in the house. Was used for some other ratings stuff they tracked.

Ahh, that makes sense. Thank you good sir.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">‘All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite’ Is TNT’s Biggest Broadcast Premiere In Five Years <a href="https://t.co/O7OyCzWDj6">https://t.co/O7OyCzWDj6</a> <a href="https://t.co/EmFZzAwaHZ">pic.twitter.com/EmFZzAwaHZ</a></p>&mdash; Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) <a href="https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1179878560732860416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Loose Cannon]

very curious to see what Smackdown does tonight. They've been doing the "bring back past superstars for years" but this time they've marketed the fuck out of it. Apparently there is a big ring outside the Fox building in NYC this morning. and I've seen ads everywhere.

[#1-norm-fan]

They somehow got 5 million for the last Raw anniversary show they did. I’d imagine this has to garner more than that.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Fox has been pushing it on every show possible including football, baseball, masked singer etc.

[slik]

I think between 3 - 4 million

Friday is a bad night for TV and judging from Twitter, people who aren't already fans of WWE don't seem very interested

[Ruien]

I am going to tune into my first WWE show in half a year or so.

[Ruien]

So that means there will be at least 1 viewer.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for SmackDownon FOX are in



Hr 1 - 3.92
Hr 2 - 3.82

Avg - 3.87 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)

[Emperor Smeat]

Bit surprised it was that high and also almost managed to double last week's number.

Next week is probably going to drop but not that badly due to the Draft but after that, wouldn't be surprised if SD hits a RAW 25/Reunion level drop.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The show had Rock advertised and it is pretty big that they are going to FOX. I think they did a better than usual job of using their stars to hook people. Rock put over Becky Lynch. Owens fired Shane. Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez are now “in-universe.” Roman and Bryan looked good as babyfaces.

They may not drop as much as they normally do.

[Droford]

I gotta wonder if Raw's rating gets a bump

[BigCrippyZ]

The show had Rock advertised and it is pretty big that they are going to FOX. I think they did a better than usual job of using their stars to hook people. Rock put over Becky Lynch. Owens fired Shane. Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez are now “in-universe.” Roman and Bryan looked good as babyfaces.

They may not drop as much as they normally do.

None of that actually is interesting or matters though.

Rock's not going to be back anytime soon, so what does it really matter.

I don't give a fuck about the rest, and why should or would I or anyone else, because none of it will matter in 2-4 weeks time with Vince in charge.

Roman and Bryan looked good... so what? Two guys who have essentially been the focus and booked to "look good" as headliners for the last 4-5 years now are still the focus. Wooo. Real exciting game changing stuff there.

This company is a joke. All I can do is laugh at how pathetic it's become.

:lol:

[slik]

Raw:



Hr 1 - 2.44
Hr 2 - 2.33
Hr 3 - 2.23

Avg - 2.33 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)

Most Watched on YT:
Braun/Tyson Fury - 2 million
Rusev snaps - 1.1 million
Becky/Charlotte on Miz TV - 410k

[Sepholio]

damnit I wanted those numbers lower >_<

[Emperor Smeat]

Lower than last week's "season premiere" which makes sense but higher than 2 weeks ago which shouldn't have been the case based on the abysmal effort WWE gave even by their standards.

They got really lucky last night's NFL game was a dud in terms of competitiveness and didn't drive away more of their audience from the Cell's terrible ending.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Morbid curiosity.

[XL]

Yep. There’s a chunk in that figure that just wanted to see what WWE would do following the reaction to HIAC.

[Emperor Smeat]

Both AEW and NXT got hammered this week in ratings although NXT's overall drop was less severe in terms of viewership.

AEW got 1.018 million viewers and a #8 ranking while NXT got 790k and a #27 ranking.

[slik]

Demo 18-49

AEW - .46
NXT - .22

[Emperor Smeat]

Interesting enough, 0.01 of a point in that demo in either direction could have swung NXT as high as #19 and as low as #31 for the night.

AEW wouldn't have been able to swing up but would have dropped down by just 1 spot had the same happened to them.

[Emperor Smeat]

Some more numbers stuff:

AEW on TruTv managed to snag around 122k viewers and a #126 ranking putting the overall live total at 1.14 million.

AEW also managed to grow from 109.0 last week to 153.0 this week on TSN for Canada. NXT doesn't air on Wednesdays in Canada.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ratings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ratings</a> news for those who enjoy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ratings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ratings</a> news.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWDynamite?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWDynamite</a> drew a 153.0 in week number two on Canadian television. Up from 109.0 in week one. As more fans see expanded promotion, it only makes sense that those numbers will continue to climb. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a></p>&mdash; Kevin Michie (@KevinMichie) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinMichie/status/1182374326177320961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

NXT suffered another big demo drop across the board except for the 50+ crowd which actually went up. It was also the only demo that did better than AEW's show for a second week in a row.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">digging into the demos for NXT, yikes: they were down 30% across the board except for......50+, where they were UP 11%. without the boomer rescue squad the drop would have been way worse</p>&mdash; john (@toshanshuinLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/toshanshuinLA/status/1182389911682461696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NXT losing in 18-49 viewers to FOX News is tragic <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NXT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NXT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a> <a href="https://t.co/M8sFU3l9Lw">https://t.co/M8sFU3l9Lw</a></p>&mdash; Kenton (@Kenton_la) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kenton_la/status/1182396832443486208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mr. Nerfect]

Although there's no way to know this for sure, I'm willing to bet that the young demos fro NXT are higher, but they probably catch it on the WWE Network at their discretion, as opposed to going out of their way to operate a TV in 2019. I'm sure many of them are checking out AEW on Wednesday, where it primarily airs, getting more than their fair share of wrestling, then using the app to watch NXT if they are so inclined the next day or whenever they get a chance.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Darby Allin vs. Jimmy Havoc was the big loser from this week's Dynamite, dropping 196,000 viewers. The end of The Young Bucks vs. Private Party and the Jericho promo also hurt them by about 44,000. The women's tag picked up a lot, and Moxley and the main event also gained viewers.

You can't always go off quarter-hours, but 196k is fucking steep.

[Emperor Smeat]

Although there's no way to know this for sure, I'm willing to bet that the young demos fro NXT are higher, but they probably catch it on the WWE Network at their discretion, as opposed to going out of their way to operate a TV in 2019. I'm sure many of them are checking out AEW on Wednesday, where it primarily airs, getting more than their fair share of wrestling, then using the app to watch NXT if they are so inclined the next day or whenever they get a chance.

That's been speculated to likely be the case since it moved to the USA Network. Only problem is that is also meaningless for USA Network if they are not getting those viewers to watch NXT live since that is lost ad money for the network.

USA gave WWE around $50 million total under the assumption it would generate numbers they were doing on Wednesdays and this week was below that number.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't think it's wise they have NXT on the Network so soon after, for the record.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If they want to do something for the Network on Thursday, do NXT Plus like AEW Dark. Or blatantly start doing a WWE studio show. Take one of the ideas that is working. Maybe just get the talent that aren't drafted and throw them on something. I probably wouldn't watch, but Cesaro vs. Chad Gable in a vacuum is probably better than what either of them is currently doing.

[Emperor Smeat]

I don't think it's wise they have NXT on the Network so soon after, for the record.
WWE is pretty much in a lose-lose type situation and all because they rushed NXT to cable tv without planning ahead or thinking of the consequences.

If they increase the delay to something like RAW and Smackdown, that removes a big selling point for the Network since PPV and NXT have been the main drivers of subscriptions. Since WWE executive pay bonuses are now tied into Network viewership numbers, they'd take a big hit in their wallets if subs start to decrease in large numbers just to bail out NXT's tv viewership.

If they do nothing, AEW will continue to have the advantage over NXT even if NXT produces better shows in terms of in-ring quality.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think they're in far more control than that. Triple H has been subtly brilliant bringing along NXT. He's not hot-shotting anything. He's letting AEW have their pomp for a few weeks, and then things will get tighter. The one thing he can't do is run bigger venues, because AEW is already doing that and taking up that segment of fan. But when that starts to cool, he can leave Full Sail, if he really wants (he may not want to).

They may not need anything else for the Network. They may not need advertisers if they can get sponsors, and they might be able to secure that by revealing to them the demo that between the USA Network and the WWE Network. They are also still producing Takeovers and When Worlds Collide (to sort of take over from Takeovers on big PPV weekends). And the gap between AEW and NXT might tighten and even switch if AEW cools down and NXT heats up.

[Emperor Smeat]

Triple H and NXT itself haven't been subtle at all with how things have been handled since the move to USA Network.

They went extra heavy on in-ring action for the first few weeks thinking AEW was going to do the same only to see the opposite happen. Rushed together a Takeover-caliber card and got an overrun quickly added solely to take the steam out of AEW's debut and saw that plan backfire spectacularly.

Then tried a similar tactic with having another overrun for this week's show and got less in return than last week.

In terms of title belts, they've hotshot 2 title changes since moving to USA and 1 shortly before the move because of what they had planned for the debut when in the past that was a lot more rare and usually happened after feuds were developed and/or fleshed out.

AEW's Dynamite show is a lot closer to what NXT actually was during the Network era than what NXT has been on USA Network.

[Black Widow]

SD dropped almost a million less views than last week:lol:

That's what happens when you false advertise guys people actually care about.

[Evil Vito]

Lolllllll FOX is gonna get buyers remorse so fucking fast

[Triple A]

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Fast-Demo-2019-Oct-11-FRI.png

2,898,000 viewers, down from last week's 3,869,000

But much higher ratings than any other network show in the "key demos" I guess

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/the-sked-friday-network-scorecard-10-11-2019.html

[slik]

At least people will talk about this more than AEW losing 300k viewers

I am guessing the million viewers who didn't tune back in were like lapsed fans and potential new viewers....bizarre they spent the first eps revolving around people who won't all be on the show on a regular basis.

[slik]

They really spent 40 minutes on Becky in ep 1 and put her in the intro and she won't be on the show

Such a Vince thing to do

[XL]

That entire week did very little to entice anyone to continue watching if they were tuning in out of interest. They did barely anything to convert people to tune into Hell In A Cell, and if anyone did tune in to that show they were hardly rewarded.

I split the Network with a friend, it costs me £5 a month, it still feels like too much.

[Emperor Smeat]

Wouldn't be surprised if next week was in the 2.5 million range since last night's show was not that interesting overall and WWE did a poor job handling the Draft.


They really spent 40 minutes on Becky in ep 1 and put her in the intro and she won't be on the show

Such a Vince thing to do

Worst part is FOX had the chance to keep Becky on Smackdown since WWE gave both networks their roster list to see if they were ok with it and if any changes needed to be made. FOX decided to do nothing despite demanding Becky as one of the top stars for their brand leading to the SD's move to the network.

[Triple A]

It makes sense that Lynch and Rollins would have to stay on the same brand, so they prob had a choice between Rollins or Reigns and picked Reigns

[Mr. Nerfect]

Triple H and NXT itself haven't been subtle at all with how things have been handled since the move to USA Network.

They went extra heavy on in-ring action for the first few weeks thinking AEW was going to do the same only to see the opposite happen. Rushed together a Takeover-caliber card and got an overrun quickly added solely to take the steam out of AEW's debut and saw that plan backfire spectacularly.

Then tried a similar tactic with having another overrun for this week's show and got less in return than last week.

In terms of title belts, they've hotshot 2 title changes since moving to USA and 1 shortly before the move because of what they had planned for the debut when in the past that was a lot more rare and usually happened after feuds were developed and/or fleshed out.

AEW's Dynamite show is a lot closer to what NXT actually was during the Network era than what NXT has been on USA Network.

Completely disagree. I think that’s how Meltzer’s telling it, but he wants AEW to succeed and look better as much as anyone.

NXT has always been heavy on the in-ring, and they were always going to put on a stacked show opposite AEW. The card was actually pretty predictable, minus Strong vs. Dream happening earlier. But they have a Takeover card developing anyway.

Overruns are a classic move, and an obvious thing to do. I don’t think it “backfired” at all. Just because it didn’t win them the night or anything doesn’t mean it’s even a failure, let alone a reversal of fate.

I don’t think moving two belts is the definition of hot-shotting. Especially when talking about the CW and NA. They’ve also kept the NXT and Women’s right where they are.

Outside the brawl at the end of episode one, have we even seen an angle? We haven’t seen a turn. Balor is back down there, but the place isn’t crawling with main roster stars like Meltzer suspected it would be.

Triple H is letting AEW have their catwalk for a little while, because they were always going to get it. The big stuff is going to happen after AEW cools off.

[Emperor Smeat]

NXT has always been heavy on the in-ring, and they were always going to put on a stacked show opposite AEW. The card was actually pretty predictable, minus Strong vs. Dream happening earlier. But they have a Takeover card developing anyway ...

I don’t think moving two belts is the definition of hot-shotting. Especially when talking about the CW and NA. They’ve also kept the NXT and Women’s right where they are.


Yes for TakeOvers but weekly tv rarely was like its been the past 4 weeks on USA Network. Way more often than not you'd get one big match or on rare occasions two big matches and the rest of the time spent moving along storylines or building new stuff. On some occasions you'd get a high profile match that would have been Takeover worthy in terms of status. First three weeks of NXT on USA was basically a roided up version of Network era NXT and last week being closer to normal but still leaning wrestling-heavy.

They literally put a WWE-like effort on the build for the Cruiser title change and rushed Strong's title win solely so they could lazily have the storyline of Undisputed Era holding all the gold be done on week 1.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yes for TakeOvers but weekly tv rarely was like its been the past 4 weeks on USA Network. Way more often than not you'd get one big match or on rare occasions two big matches and the rest of the time spent moving along storylines or building new stuff. On some occasions you'd get a high profile match that would have been Takeover worthy in terms of status. First three weeks of NXT on USA was basically a roided up version of Network era NXT and last week being closer to normal but still leaning wrestling-heavy.

They literally put a WWE-like effort on the build for the Cruiser title change and rushed Strong's title win solely so they could lazily have the storyline of Undisputed Era holding all the gold be done on week 1.

Oh, you're right about the first part. That was always going to be the case when they moved to USA. I'm not suggesting that they are slumming it, but there's this myth around places that Triple H is really sweating this thing. He's letting AEW tire themselves out before going for the KO.

I actually thought they would do Dream vs. Strong on the third episode. But I don't think it was surprising or rushed.

[BigCrippyZ]

Oh, you're right about the first part. That was always going to be the case when they moved to USA. I'm not suggesting that they are slumming it, but there's this myth around places that Triple H is really sweating this thing. He's letting AEW tire themselves out before going for the KO.

I actually thought they would do Dream vs. Strong on the third episode. But I don't think it was surprising or rushed.

Of course he's not sweating it. That's just as dumb as saying Vince is sweating anything. They're not going to lose their jobs or their salaries, etc. The fact that they're truly changing anything and can't really beat out their competition is telling though.

The issue isn't whether WWE can survive. WWE is basically too big to fail at this point. They're not going anywhere. AEW is the one who has all the pressure and will continue to do so.

That doesn't make WWE's product better though, because it's not. WWE's product is simply there because the money and name allows it to be. That doesn't equal quality, and in fact it's actually usually trash overall. That's something many folks and especially those in WWE just either don't get or refuse to accept or acknowledge, for whatever reason.

[slik]

Raw


Hr 1 - 2.52
Hr 2 - 2.32
Hr 3 - 1.99


Avg - 2.28 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
Tyson Fury threatens - 2.3 million
Seth burns Funhouse - 1 million
Tyson Fury's impact - 520k

[Emperor Smeat]

In a way not surprised it dropped. Combo of last week's episode being really abysmal and Friday's Draft show did a terrible job maintaining the hype for Monday's show.

1st hour was stronger than last week and 2nd hour was almost the same but any gains got trashed because of another instance of 3rd hour doing more damage than help for RAW.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Of course he's not sweating it. That's just as dumb as saying Vince is sweating anything. They're not going to lose their jobs or their salaries, etc. The fact that they're truly changing anything and can't really beat out their competition is telling though.

The issue isn't whether WWE can survive. WWE is basically too big to fail at this point. They're not going anywhere. AEW is the one who has all the pressure and will continue to do so.

That doesn't make WWE's product better though, because it's not. WWE's product is simply there because the money and name allows it to be. That doesn't equal quality, and in fact it's actually usually trash overall. That's something many folks and especially those in WWE just either don't get or refuse to accept or acknowledge, for whatever reason.

AEW is going to fizzle hard, and I think they all know it. They’re waiting. No one expected them to beat AEW for the first few weeks (in the USA vs. TNT battle anyway). They’re not going to bring out their big guns. It’s why the promotion for them on Raw has been weak too. They want to leave “the machine” out of these early defeats.

It’s got nothing to do with quality. It’s the size of the moves. NXT has been making small moves, whereas AEW is going pretty hard.

[BigCrippyZ]

AEW is going to fizzle hard, and I think they all know it. They’re waiting. No one expected them to beat AEW for the first few weeks (in the USA vs. TNT battle anyway). They’re not going to bring out their big guns. It’s why the promotion for them on Raw has been weak too. They want to leave “the machine” out of these early defeats.

It’s got nothing to do with quality. It’s the size of the moves. NXT has been making small moves, whereas AEW is going pretty hard.

So, you don't actually dispute anything I said, but come to the conclusion that AEW is going to eventually bomb because you're assuming AEW has been trying harder than NXT and NXT hasn't? If that's the case, then based on $ to spend on potential bigger moves, then of course NXT is going to win by default. Again, that doesn't make NXT better quality or more interesting in terms of content, it just means they have more potential resources to crush AEW. Congrats to NXT for not actually having to be as creative or work as hard, I guess. If that's what you want to see, what is essentially more of the same crap that is ultimately meaningless, okay then. Keep ultimately supporting Vince I guess.

[Mr. Nerfect]

So, you don't actually dispute anything I said, but come to the conclusion that AEW is going to eventually bomb because you're assuming AEW has been trying harder than NXT and NXT hasn't? If that's the case, then based on $ to spend on potential bigger moves, then of course NXT is going to win by default. Again, that doesn't make NXT better quality or more interesting in terms of content, it just means they have more potential resources to crush AEW. Congrats to NXT for not actually having to be as creative or work as hard, I guess. If that's what you want to see, what is essentially more of the same crap that is ultimately meaningless, okay then. Keep ultimately supporting Vince I guess.

I'm not making a statement for or against them, honestly. I truthfully do enjoy NXT a bit more, because AEW's got worse stuff on the bottom that irritates me more than NXT. I don't think that the NXT shows have necessarily been bad by any stretch though.

AEW is shooting through a lot more is my point. They can only end with a brawl so many times. They can only run Jericho vs. Cody for the first time once. The freshness is eventually going to wear off and they're going to have to be honest-to-god good, which is going to get dicey once you get past the main event stuff.

In my opinion, NXT would be foolish to hammer out their best shit now. The hardcore fans are still going to watch AEW live and at best DVR NXT or watch it on the Network the next day. At least for now. When AEW starts to cool, that's when you can do your big feud for Ciampa as champion -- whether that be something very subtlely set up in the background with Matt Riddle, or a big program with a main roster star -- fuck, it wouldn't shock me if they roped in Cena to do some NXT appearances instead of main roster ones to give them a boost. But you do this after AEW has cooled and the narrative isn't necessarily going to be "Oh man! That shitty WWE pumping up NXT against AEW! Boo!"

How you feel about it is fine. If AEW cools off and doesn't have that top dollar bargaining power because it's just not as viable as WWE, then it's bad for everyone. I don't want that, even if I were predicting it. But I'm just not on-board with this idea spread by Meltzer and lots of people on the internet that NXT is getting its ass kicked even though they're trying so hard and putting all their resources in lolololol yay.

WWE are the heels. I get that. It's fun to cheer against them. But I think as we head out of Full Gear and into 2020, the story as to who is trouncing who every night changes. That's just my prediction. I haven't gotten the feeling that Triple H is going hard at this at all. To the contrary, all his moves have been relatively measured, especially considering AEW has more wriggle-room right now (getting to the bigger venues, being the "it" promotion, etc.).

[Mr. Nerfect]

Like, with the move to USA weeks before AEW debuted on TNT, was that because they "wanted to get the jump" as Meltzer says? Or was it because Triple H wanted to debut unopposed so WWE has got a figure to shop around the next time they want to get something on a network. We know that ~1 million people will tune in to a debuting WWE wrestling program with minimal promotion.

If they debuted at the same time then you've got the fresh AEW beating the fresh NXT, which is a slightly different story to the fresh AEW beating NXT in its third week. It's not "good," but it's preferable to have that tiny bit of distance. I think the story that WWE wanted to get NXT into that slot so that no one would be watching AEW is just a bit naive with some wishful projection.

But then again, this is WWE, and they prove themselves to be fucking idiots all the time. That being said, this does seem to be a Triple H project as much as anything has been, and while I'm not the biggest Triple H defender in the world -- and am skeptical that he would run the main roster WWE like he does NXT -- this isn't main roster WWE and his ego is invested in winning and winning means being different.

If AEW falters and becomes TNA 2.0, then my crazy hope is that Triple H proves he can run wrestling to Vince and to shareholders and they allow their different shows to be handled in different ways as Vince inevitably needs to start stepping back. I know people think it will never happen, but it's got to at some point, and the dude's got to be tired. If Triple H can handle NXT, maybe Vince steps back off Raw and lets Triple H handle that in a supervisory position as Heyman books. I dunno, that's all I'm left with.

[BigCrippyZ]

The issue though isn't who has the advantage or who's trying harder or hardest. If it was, just based on pure money alone WWE has the clear advantage and WWE is spending way more money than AEW. The issue is which promotion is most effectively working to actually consistently put on quality shows and build for the future.

WWE simply isn't doing that, and it's not because NXT is necessarily bad, but simply because NXT at the end of the day is meaningless. Nothing that happens in NXT matters because NXT is a stepping stone to the main roster or the road to elsewhere/indies for the talent. That's because everything that happens or that gets successfully built up or over in NXT becomes meaningless when the talent gets called up to Raw or SD, or they eventually get released to go elsewhere.

That's why I don't give a shit about WWE, including NXT. It's not because AEW is "cool" currently, and thus WWE is a "heel" promotion. With rare exception, I wasn't really watching any WWE product prior to AEW, including NXT, and I'm likely watching even less now, if that's even possible. Meanwhile, watching AEW, at least for the time being, while not perfect or always great, feels easy, different, and fresh, and I don't feel like it's meaningless or a waste of time, or that I'm being treated like an idiot by the talent or the folks in charge.

Comparing WWE (NXT included) to AEW however, outside of Jericho, Cody, Moxley, (a little bit about) Pac, and Jake Swagger/Hager (who is not actually listed on their roster), I have no clue who most of the AEW talent is. Still, they're actually building guys up to be potential future main eventers/title contenders. MJF, Omega, Page, Darby Allen, have all been made to look like potential future main eventers who can compete with the main event guy's that I do know more about. They've also actually all got some character development and differences too.

The only way WWE makes any legit long term changes is if WWE starts to get slaughtered and lose money and viewers to their competition, or, if Vince dies and no one who shares his vision of what is supposed to happen creatively on the main roster is allowed to take over. Neither of which are likely to happen based on who he's surrounded himself with, (yes men and folks who share/agree with his vision,) and thus who will likely be chosen to replace him.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The issue though isn't who has the advantage or who's trying harder or hardest. If it was, just based on pure money alone WWE has the clear advantage and WWE is spending way more money than AEW. The issue is which promotion is most effectively working to actually consistently put on quality shows and build for the future.

WWE simply isn't doing that, and it's not because NXT is necessarily bad, but simply because NXT at the end of the day is meaningless. Nothing that happens in NXT matters because NXT is a stepping stone to the main roster or the road to elsewhere/indies for the talent. That's because everything that happens or that gets successfully built up or over in NXT becomes meaningless when the talent gets called up to Raw or SD, or they eventually get released to go elsewhere.

That's why I don't give a shit about WWE, including NXT. It's not because AEW is "cool" currently, and thus WWE is a "heel" promotion. With rare exception, I wasn't really watching any WWE product prior to AEW, including NXT, and I'm likely watching even less now, if that's even possible. Meanwhile, watching AEW, at least for the time being, while not perfect or always great, feels easy, different, and fresh, and I don't feel like it's meaningless or a waste of time, or that I'm being treated like an idiot by the talent or the folks in charge.

Comparing WWE (NXT included) to AEW however, outside of Jericho, Cody, Moxley, (a little bit about) Pac, and Jake Swagger/Hager (who is not actually listed on their roster), I have no clue who most of the AEW talent is. Still, they're actually building guys up to be potential future main eventers/title contenders. MJF, Omega, Page, Darby Allen, have all been made to look like potential future main eventers who can compete with the main event guy's that I do know more about. They've also actually all got some character development and differences too.

The only way WWE makes any legit long term changes is if WWE starts to get slaughtered and lose money and viewers to their competition, or, if Vince dies and no one who shares his vision of what is supposed to happen creatively on the main roster is allowed to take over. Neither of which are likely to happen based on who he's surrounded himself with, (yes men and folks who share/agree with his vision,) and thus who will likely be chosen to replace him.

I wouldn't have disagreed before this AEW/NXT thing started. I'm on record here basically saying "Who cares? They're going to ruin her anyway" when people were speculating on what Asuka was going to do on the main roster. But that dynamic changes somewhat now that NXT is a USA Network property.

You might be right about the replacing of Vince. I'm probably smoking some good shit to think that Triple H running NXT is an audition/proving ground. But it might be. I mean, people were predicting Vince's fingerprints all over NXT when it was first confirmed for USA and that didn't happen, because it doesn't make sense. There seems to be some sliver of common sense coming out of that little building in Full Sail.

When it comes to promotion, I just think that the subtle approach by NXT early on, at least, has been intentional. They want people to slowly discover it. They want to be able to pump up promotion later. If they went full speed into this, they are still going to get beaten by AEW early on, but there's also nowhere to go. That's my point with this. I think people who are rubbing their hands at AEW busting ass out the gate and beating NXT when they're hot and NXT is not are kind of sleeping on just how much NXT is saving -- big stars coming in, big promotion, crossover angles, big things happening on the show itself.

[BigCrippyZ]

As I don't really ever watch it, I'm in no position to question the quality of NXT. By all accounts, it's a solid to really good weekly show.

For the sake of argument, let's say you're right. HHH is and will remain, for the immediately foreseeable future, in charge of NXT. Let's also say HHH is slow playing this thing and is simply waiting for the right time to go all out for NXT, and/or until AEW has peaked. Why, and to what end?

If HHH were to bring in bigger WWE stars like Cena, Rollins, Lesnar, Bryan or others, to compete in NXT, what's the plan? Let's say those big stars come to NXT to find out or prove they can still compete with the best of the next generation of young talent. Then what?

You're either going to shit on the NXT talent by having them lose to the bigger stars, or you're going to shit on your company's biggest stars by having them lose to guys on your B or C level show, or, you can have a meaningless draw that basically means/does nothing. Also, good luck having Vince allow HHH to stay in charge of an NXT that features one or more of his biggest stars, at least for long, let alone having NXT talent go over his bigger Raw/SD stars.

Let's say HHH gets the young NXT talent over without bringing in any bigger WWE talent. Then what? Well, Vince either brings the NXT talent up to Raw or SD and makes the talent meaningless and thus AEW likely keeps competing with or beating NXT. Or NXT does so well that it regularly beats AEW and thus also competes/beats with Raw and SD. Good luck having Vince keep HHH in charge of an NXT show that either, continues to struggle with AEW, or an NXT that regularly competes or beats Raw or SD, even if it's beating AEW in the process.

[Emperor Smeat]

Good and bad news regarding week 3 of the AEW vs NXT war.

Good news was AEW managed to improve from #8 to #5 in terms of ranking this week although it did suffer a small decline of around 4k viewers since this week was 1.014 million overall.

Bad news was NXT dropped in rankings from #27 to #30 and suffered another sizeable decline of 78k viewers since this week was 712k overall.

In terms of key demo, AEW got a 0.44 and NXT got a 0.20.

Also in terms of the old people demo where NXT has held the advantage, AEW closed the gap to just 0.02 of a point (0.35 for NXT vs. 0.33 for AEW). Last week it was 0.40 vs 0.30 in favor of NXT.

[Droford]

I wonder if USA decides to back out of NXT if the ratings continue to drop

[slik]

2.44 million is the average for SD week 3


https://i.imgur.com/5NUZ3ab.png

[slik]

Here is how all the big stuff compared for the week:


RAW: 2.28 million
18-34: .48
18-49: .74


AEW: 1.01 million
18-34: .29
18-49: .44


NXT: 720 thousand
18-34: .14
18-49: .20


Smackdown: 2.44 million
18-34: .55
18-49: .75

[slik]

SD on FOX:


week 1 - 3.89

week 2 - 2.90

week 3 - 2.44

[Emperor Smeat]

SD is now under the boost average of 2.5 million Meltzer predicted the show would get due to FOX's higher status than USA Network but still above the 2.2 million level that FOX considers to be their floor to remain happy.

Only real saving grace is SD still kept the top spot for the 18-34 demo but not at the numbers needed to make up for the weaker ad rates.

[Jordan]

Well they will likely fall below 2.2 within two weeks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I expected them to sit at 2.5. This really does suggest that WWE is losing its appeal faster than thought.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, seems FOX might have been lowering their expectations for Smackdown these past few weeks.

Went going into the new tv deal of FOX potentially expecting in the 3 million range as an average to being happy with a 2.2 million as a floor average 2 weeks into SD's debut to now a potential 1.7 million as the floor for FOX to stay happy.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When they get to 1.7 million viewers I'd start thinking about it. FOX right now is very strong on this project and think it's a winner. <a href="https://t.co/TyAbsOVpW9">https://t.co/TyAbsOVpW9</a></p>&mdash; Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) <a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1185615921232019456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Also SD's numbers looks even worse compared to what aired during the same week last year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Last Man Standing was at the 8est time slot this time last fall and drew a 1.8 in the 18-40 demo and 8 million viewers total <a href="https://t.co/D2YkOvTrUs">https://t.co/D2YkOvTrUs</a></p>&mdash; Trump eats boogers (@Arwood_Lucilath) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arwood_Lucilath/status/1185618946390659072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for RAW are in:

Hr 1 - 2.48
Hr 2 - 2.37
Hr 3 - 2.18

Avg - 2.34 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
Cain saves Rey - 1.9 million
Rusev goes berserk- 845k
Seth ve Humberto - 694k

[Emperor Smeat]

Bit surprised it actually went up considering the opposite usually happens the week after a RAW or Smackdown special episode.

Rare instance where the 3rd hour ended up being the reason it didn't have an overall drop since it was the only hour to do better than last week's Draft show.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm crediting this to Sin Cara and Shelton Benjamin.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for AEW and NXT are in:

AEW - 963k
18 to 49 - .45
18 to 34 - .39

NXT - 698k
18 to 49 - .21
18 to 34 - .13

[Emperor Smeat]

Considering both shows were going up against the World Series and NBA season openers, those are not bad numbers overall.

Both shows also managed to improve in rankings which was great as well. Only real surprise was the big boost AEW got from the 18-34 demo and NXT not suffering a big drop in the 50+ demo like AEW did.

[xrodmuc316]

Considering both shows were going up against the World Series and NBA season openers, those are not bad numbers overall.

Both shows also managed to improve in rankings which was great as well. Only real surprise was the big boost AEW got from the 18-34 demo and NXT not suffering a big drop in the 50+ demo like AEW did.

I mean together they lost 500,000 people, to opening night of the NBA and the World Series. That's a pretty good sign for 2 new competing shows. That still means roughly 1.65 million fans picked wrestling over big sports leagues. That's a good showing I think.

[Triple A]

Kind of interesting: Dynamite is more popular than Raw in NYC in the 18-49 demo, according to Meltzer:

In a ratings note, and markets are different and all, but AEW has been beating Raw in 18-49 in New York even at the level it fell in weeks two and three.

[Jordan]

I really want know the calculation for AEW views throughout the week, replays and cord cutting apps and all. To me that info next to WWE's breakdown would be the most interesting info. I get that LIVE VIEWING is a bigger money prospect for ad sales but IDGAF about that. I want to know what the real difference is with viewers throughout the span of a week. I think that is reasonable.

[Emperor Smeat]

They've been averaging in the high 300k for the initial replay but if I had to guess, probably around 500k to 600k total for the combined extra viewership.

Smackdown's been averaging in the high 100ks for combined viewership post-FOX debut based on PWInsider's reports.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m more interested in how big the drops are. 5% and 2% are not that much different, but it does seem that AEW has the steeper declines. It will be interesting to see where both level out and then how NXT starts to build themselves up.

[Emperor Smeat]

Observer's Dave Meltzer had an interesting tidbit about the ratings for this week's shows plus last week's Smackdown and the costs associated with them.

Ratings can be confusing and misleading but as far as the key numbers to advertisers and normalized to be fair, based on the actual audience that has access to the show as opposed to making it unfair based on homes that don't even have the channel, these were the 18-49 ratings for this past week:

UFC .47
Smackdown .77
Raw 1.01
Total Divas .17
NXT .28
AEW .61


As far as costs to the network for the episode:

UFC $10 million
Smackdown $4.02 million
Raw $5.10 million
Total Divas $400,000
NXT $588,000
AEW $500,000 plus a percentage of advertising points


Also thinks 1.6 million would be the best case scenario for Smackdown's viewership this week.

Regarding Smackdown tonight, between the night and the station, the only way they're topping 1.6 million viewers is if Hogan and Flair still have ratings juice after all of their recent appearances.

[Mr. Nerfect]

WWE cynicism aside, they are very good value.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for #WWE #SmackDown are in:

888k viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)

Note - This episode aired on FS1 and not FOX

Most Watched on YT:
Brock Attacks I - 2.5 million
6-man tag - 1.1 million
Brock Attacks II - 831k

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oof. That is not a good number, regardless of where they are.

[Triple A]

lol...

[Emperor Smeat]

Even though the number has a built-in excuse, that should be a huge wake up call to WWE both in regards of what their future could look like if FOX ever kicks them off the main network and what they are currently doing for Smackdown hasn't been working.

[Triple A]

Sensing SmackDown gets like 2.1 million or below on FOX next week

[xrodmuc316]

I don't watch much tv, just streaming stuff. I don't know how prominent FS1 is in terms of availability (I had to look at my channel guide for the first time in at least 5 years), but if anything I think that low of a number helps WWE.

Fox now knows they can't stick a billion dollar show on FS1. They lose just too much value going from 2.5 on network to .88 on cable.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sensing SmackDown gets like 2.1 million or below on FOX next week

That feels about right.

WWE's Saudi shows usually don't provide a notable ppv-bump and SD has weak momentum going in since last week's show was mostly boring.

[xrodmuc316]

That feels about right.

WWE's Saudi shows usually don't provide a notable ppv-bump and SD has weak momentum going in since last week's show was mostly boring.

They do the opposite, they drain any and all momentum.

Name 1 thing that has come out of any of these shows since the beginning.

They build up these shows like a PPV, but then book them like a house show in that they are completely inconsequential to anything good, just hurts the wrestlers long term who are buried in these stupid house shows.

[slik]

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Final-Cable-2019-Oct-25-FRI.png

[slik]

WWE Backstage at #42 for Friday Night w/ 426k, a .14 in 18-34 and .08 in 18-49

[Emperor Smeat]

Not a good sign for Backstage since the first preview show from two weeks ago managed to generate 597k viewers.

Next week should be different since its the official debut and loaded with marque guests but also likely going to follow the same WWE trend where the week after drops big.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently WWE was expecting at least 2 million for last week's Smackdown even with the change from FOX to FS1 due to the World Series.

WWE officials were expecting Friday's SmackDown to do a similar number to what the show was doing on the USA Network before the move in early October, according to @Wrestlevotes. The final SmackDown USA episode on September 24 drew 2.099 million viewers. The September 17 episode, which was the post-Clash of Champions show, drew 2.064 million viewers and the September 10 episode drew 2.061 million viewers. This week's show on FS1 came nowhere near 2 million viewers.

[xrodmuc316]

Not a good sign for Backstage since the first preview show from two weeks ago managed to generate 597k viewers.

Next week should be different since its the official debut and loaded with marque guests but also likely going to follow the same WWE trend where the week after drops big.

Guess they should have paid Phil.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don’t see how a show with wrestlers talking about wrestling is going to do well when no one wants to watch the fucking wrestling.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Honestly, even if it’s a work, Vince should announce that he is stepping away from creative. That alone would alter the perception of WWE.

[Emperor Smeat]

Honestly, even if it’s a work, Vince should announce that he is stepping away from creative. That alone would alter the perception of WWE.

He sort of did that with their last investor's meeting about how Heyman and Bischoff would be taking over more creative duties while he slowly moves to the side in order to focus on the XFL's revival.

Considering things got a lot worse since that announcement, investors probably would have very mixed feelings if he actually left creative either for real or as a work. Think they also still have very mixed feelings on the idea of Triple H and Steph running the company in the future.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

wow

[slik]

RAW:

Hr 1 - 2.33
Hr 2 - 2.15
Hr 3 - 1.93

Avg - 2.14 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)



Most Watched on YT:
Rusev crushed - 3.2 million
Seth vs Rowan - 1.1 million
AJ vs Humberto - 648k

[Mr. Nerfect]

Thanks. I’ve been hanging out for this number. It’s the good goss in wrestling right now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Not surprised at all the 3rd hour tanked that badly. Whoever came up with the idea for the divorce court segment probably should get removed from creative.

Also not surprised that segment has a huge lead in the Most Watched category since I'd assume the majority of those views are due to morbid curiosity and not because it was a great segment.

[#1-norm-fan]

As someone who has all but given up on even keeping track of Raw, I can honestly say that’s the only segment that might draw a curiosity view from me. Especially since “Seth vs. Rowan” sounds like a jobber match and I have no idea who Humberto is.

[#1-norm-fan]

It can not be overstated, as a lifelong wrestling fan, how sad it is to choose “just turn the TV off” over wrestling on a Monday night.

[xrodmuc316]

It's not like WWE all of a sudden began producing boring tv recently.

For me I think it goes back to the big speech of "we are gonna listen and change", and the multiple times since then that they tried to put out how "here is the new change" with things like bringing in Heyman/Bischoff, changing channels, the draft, etc. Calling attention to the "bad product" but then continuing to deliver they same bad product just burns any benefit of the doubt they had.

You then combine that with them seemingly throwing in the towel and downgrading quality elsewhere (The shitty WWE Network upgrade, WWE 2K20) and it just proves they have no pride in their product and/or are to lazy to give a shit.

I honestly don't see them turning it around. It feels like they are just going through the motions. I think they will ride out their current TV deals, and maybe with a year or so left cash out to something like Disney who will just stick the tape library on ESPN+ and call it a day.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s been a long time coming. The product has been conditioning is to expect the worst forever.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

It's not like WWE all of a sudden began producing boring tv recently.

For me I think it goes back to the big speech of "we are gonna listen and change", and the multiple times since then that they tried to put out how "here is the new change" with things like bringing in Heyman/Bischoff, changing channels, the draft, etc. Calling attention to the "bad product" but then continuing to deliver they same bad product just burns any benefit of the doubt they had.

You then combine that with them seemingly throwing in the towel and downgrading quality elsewhere (The shitty WWE Network upgrade, WWE 2K20) and it just proves they have no pride in their product and/or are to lazy to give a shit.

I honestly don't see them turning it around. It feels like they are just going through the motions. I think they will ride out their current TV deals, and maybe with a year or so left cash out to something like Disney who will just stick the tape library on ESPN+ and call it a day.

dude come on. It's been awful since mid-2001

[#1-norm-fan]

Yeah, I don’t even know what “we are gonna listen and change” speech xrod’s referring to but I’m sure it was way, way WAY past the point of rescue.

[Triple A]

As someone who has all but given up on even keeping track of Raw, I can honestly say that’s the only segment that might draw a curiosity view from me. Especially since “Seth vs. Rowan” sounds like a jobber match and I have no idea who Humberto is.

Rusev and Lana video currently has 4.4 million views on YouTube... second highest is the Rollins match at 1.4m and everything else is mostly far below 1m.

Everyone is shitting on the angle and it is not necessarily "good" but it was also the only interesting thing on Raw to me, like you said...

[xrodmuc316]

dude come on. It's been awful since mid-2001

But they didn't come out and admit it and promise to be better until lately.


Yeah, I don’t even know what “we are gonna listen and change” speech xrod’s referring to but I’m sure it was way, way WAY past the point of rescue.

This bs where they didn't do anything but get worse.

WRbhkuvq2xc

[Mr. Nerfect]

Shane McMahon came out in 2016 and said Raw sucked and he was going to bring change. Then...failed.

WWE might be the only TV show in the world that tells you it is awful. It’s so weird coming from a wrestling promotion.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for AEW and NXT are in and as predicted, both took a big hit from the World Series, which had 23 million viewers.

AEW - 759k
18-34: .19
18-49: .33

NXT - 580k
18-34: .15
18-49: .18

[Emperor Smeat]

Only real bright side is AEW just missed out being in the Top 5 by 0.01 in the key demo ratings. Unlike last week, the boost they got from the 18-34 demo to offset losing older viewers didn't happen.

On the flip side, the boost NXT got this week from the 18-34 demo wasn't enough to cover the losses elsewhere. Also even with NXT getting a recap show as the lead-in, the fallout from Balor's heel turn, and hyping up Poppy making an appearance, it still was ineffective in regards to closing that big gap in the key demo.

[slik]

Live TV Ratings for Takeover: Smackdown are in:




Hr 1 - 2.61
Hr 2 - 2.48

Avg - 2.55 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Smackdown is the most watched wrestling show of the week


Most Watched on YT:
Brock Lesnar quits - 2 million
HHH declares war - 567k
Shayna attacks Bayley - 524k

[Emperor Smeat]

Not only was it larger than last week's special occasion on FS1, which was expected, it also was larger than 2 weeks ago on FOX which is good for both WWE and FOX.

Mix of NXT surprises and general curiosity of how WWE was going to handle missing most of SD's roster ended up paying off very well. Also helped that it arguably was the best show SD has had since it moved to FOX.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Better rating than I expected. Will be interesting to see if this segues into bigger things for NXT. As AEW is on the cool-off, they are now giving NXT its initial “main roster” push.

[slik]

RAW:



Hr 1 - 2.35
Hr 2 - 2.21
He 3 - 1.85

Avg - 2.13 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
Brock Attacks Dio - 1.7 million
HHH tempts Seth - 1.3 million
Seth vs Cole - 1.2 million

[Emperor Smeat]

RAW numbers barely being up overall and also dropping big for the 3rd hour is not that good of a sign for the level of interest people have towards this NXT invasion storyline. The bulk of NXT related stuff last night happened during the 3rd hour.

Smackdown had the benefit of both the surprise factor and missing the bulk of their roster which meant Creative had to do things different than usual and resulted in a pretty great show overall.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’d blame Seth for this. He’s been ratings poison lately.

[Mr. Nerfect]

2.13 and not lower is NXT mitigating it.

[BigCrippyZ]

2.13 and not lower is NXT mitigating it.

While I respect you, I feel like you're essentially sucking HHH's and/or NXT's metaphorical dick. Even if it tastes "just as bad" or worse than any WWE/NXT "competition".

WWE's entire product is trash. WWE's entire product is going to be trash. At this point, nothing matters. Until Vince is dead and in the ground. The End.

[#1-norm-fan]

Considering Monday Night Football was up 40% from last week, I’m surprised the hit was so low.

[Mr. Nerfect]

While I respect you, I feel like you're essentially sucking HHH's and/or NXT's metaphorical dick. Even if it tastes "just as bad" or worse than any WWE/NXT "competition".

WWE's entire product is trash. WWE's entire product is going to be trash. At this point, nothing matters. Until Vince is dead and in the ground. The End.

I wasn’t being completely sincere, but I honestly would blame Seth and Raw’s humdrum vibe before I laid the blame at new guys most people haven’t seen before to even decide if they don’t like them yet.

I’ve been hyper-critical of Triple H in the past. I’ve called the WWE/NXT machine out on what I thought it was: promises that they can’t keep. That being said, they’ve been super-smart in their approach to AEW, which has been trash outside its main event scene, and I think they’re going to kill off its buzz soon. I don’t even watch NXT every week, so I wouldn’t say it’s a horse I’m backing. It’s more a prediction than a wish.

[Emperor Smeat]

Bet FOX and/or FS1 officials are not happy at all with how badly their new WWE Backstage show tanked.

The official WWE Backstage premiere on FS1 drew just 49,000 viewers last night at 11pm ET, according to an update from Showbuzz Daily.

We noted before that viewership wasn't released because the show didn't make the Cable Top 150 list. Showbuzz Daily released an update and noted that Backstage also drew an 0.02 cable rating in the 18-49 demographic.

For some reference, the two preview shows drew 597,000 viewers on Oct. 15 and 426,000 viewers on October 25th.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That’s an awful fucking rating. I mean, I didn’t expect it to do well. Actual wrestling shows are struggling with wrestling. It wouldn’t surprise me if this becomes a one-hour studio wrestling show at some point, or something. They’ll need to do something.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Turn it into a show where the talent basically call their own shots. Like Talking Smack but with some wrestling too. This is where you can do things like Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak without disrupting the flow of your SmackDown shows.

[xrodmuc316]

I can't imagine they expected much for an 11:00pm cable show, but 49,000 is very low.

[slik]

49K

[xrodmuc316]

They should have just paid Phil...

[Emperor Smeat]

This week's AEW vs NXT ended in favor of AEW but also had the smallest gap of just 9k viewers.

AEW got 822k viewers and a #8 ranking while NXT got 813k viewers and a #12 ranking.

18-49 demo ratings were 0.35 for AEW and 0.30 for NXT. AEW also held the advantage in the 18-34 demo while NXT held the advantage of 50+ demo.

[slik]

NXT w dat Raw bump

[Emperor Smeat]

According to this week's Observer Newsletter, only reason AEW won this week was solely due to the starting gaps between both shows.

Also more signs pointing to the viewers AEW has been losing are not directly switching over to NXT based on the recent trends for quarter-hour breakdowns.

Also the over-run once again has been the biggest boost for NXT's numbers.

The key take on the show is AEW’s numbers opened well ahead and mostly declined, even with a hot show. NXT opened behind, and largely grew. By saying that, you’d think it was an audience switch as the two hours were going. Yet, an examination of the quarters tells you that wasn’t the case. While the AEW audience was tuning out, for the most part they were not switching to NXT.

In the overall, AEW started with a solid lead, 976,000 for Pac vs. Trent vs. 819,000 for the OC Invasion and TV main event build and the beginning of Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest.

[slik]

Smackdown:

Hr 1 - 2.73
Hr 2 - 2.51

Avg - 2.62 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)

Most Watched on YT:
Tyson Fury/Braun team up - 1 million
Roman vs Corbin - 539k
Fiend attacks DBry - 464k


https://i.postimg.cc/YSLJdPv3/Fast-Demo-2019-Nov-08-FRI.png

[Emperor Smeat]

Smackdown going up despite being taped and in the UK feels like that might be a first for WWE.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Surprised to see SmackDown do that well. There seems to be interest a-brewing.

[slik]

New low for RAW



Hr 1 - 2.36
Hr 2 - 2.06
Hr 3 - 1.75

Avg - 2.06 million viewers
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT -
Lana/Rusev/Lashley: 1.5 million
6-Man Tag: 646K
8-Man Tag: 556K

[slik]

non-holiday new low*