Does anyone else think SD will bomb on FOX?

[slik]

I just can't picture this influx of old fans or new fans watching WWE as it currently is, even if they upgrade the cameras and set. I feel like the storylines and creative will still be pretty 'eh'.

Since Friday is a bad night for TV I am guessing the best shot is hooking people under 10 and over 60 - and I am not sure people under 10 really watch TV these days, I think they mostly watch YT/Hulu/Netflix/incoming Disney +

[KIRA]

Yeah I don't see any good coming out of this I wonder what made fox say yes it is and think it was a good idea I wonder if they really know what they're getting unless the WWE really really steps up their game

[slik]

I could see the show debuting with a decent number - between 3 and 4 million - but eventually sliding to where it is now, around 2 million, maybe 2.5 million.

Certainly not some 7-8 million new 'boom' period lol.

[Triple A]

I could see the show debuting with a decent number - between 3 and 4 million - but eventually sliding to where it is now, around 2 million, maybe 2.5 million.

That is my guess also

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, I think 2.5 million sounds about right. It will be bad for the slot, but they’ve got them all year round. That will be the justification for it.

[#1-norm-fan]

They somehow managed to get 5 million for the last Raw milestone show before losing half the audience within a couple weeks. I figure the same will happen here. Draw in an audience with nostalgia, chase them away with the current guys/product.

[#1-norm-fan]

Then again, you’ve got a part of that potential audience that got reeled in by the last nostalgia show and won’t fall for it again so they may have lost a portion of that 5 million for good.

[ClockShot]

Honestly think it depends on Vince.

If he's gonna keep re-writing the script 1 hour before showtime and have zero faith in the Smackdown writing team, the show's in big big trouble.

[#1-norm-fan]

Feel like he’s done that for the better part of 2 decades now. I can’t see any reason he’d change now.

[ClockShot]

True, yes.

But, it's these past few weeks recently that's should have people worried. Raw's probably had a few tweaks here and there or run pretty smooth lately.

[Gerard]

Hopefully, yes.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

like 99% sure the long-term results won't be great.

[Emperor Smeat]

Even with the Friday time spot, it probably will still do better than the numbers on USA Network but FOX and WWE are fooling themselves if they think its going to hit 3+ million for the long term.

WWE hasn't shown its willing to do serious rehauling of their entire creative process and mentality while FOX is putting way too much faith in their sports audience supporting the show in huge numbers.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, the sporting audience isn't going to watch WWE. It's way too "fruity." I don't mean that as a sexual slur, but it's just bouncy, warm, cuddly and smooth. Except for the nauseating jump cuts.

The promotion material makes me think they're going for families. "We're All Superstars -- Isn't WWE FUN?!?"

[xrodmuc316]

Yeah I don't see any good coming out of this I wonder what made fox say yes it is and think it was a good idea I wonder if they really know what they're getting unless the WWE really really steps up their game

Because WWE fits in exactly with Fox's new business model.

Fox cashed out most of their assets in the sale to Disney. They are presenting live sports at a time when traditional TV is on its last legs. Love sports is generally accepted as the only bullet left in terms of the old model of watching something when it actually airs.

We think $1 billion is an incredible number, but that is over 5 years. They are basically paying WWE less than $1 million per 30 minute block of live Prime time television.

That is absolutely nothing compared to anything else they could air, and certainly not anything they could air live.

So they found something that can take up their Friday night's for $4 million. WWE will promote other Fox things on Smackdown the same way they now do for USA Network.

It all works in Fox's benefit, and WWE makes more than they currently do. It's a win win.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's good in conception, until you realize that WWE doesn't get watched like live sports. Wrestling is also bad for advertising.

[Destor]

Nothing does well on Friday. This wont be any different. Itll do the same average the last time they moved SD! to Friday.

[Jordan]

If it was the only A show then I could see it becoming one of the biggest shows on Friday nights but considering by the time Friday rolls around most people will have already seen at least 4 or more hours of wrestling that week. I doubt it will be priority viewing for fans. I do think this whole deal is gonna end badly for WWE.

[Destor]

Do peoples batteries magically recharge allowing them to watch more wrestling on sundays?

[Jordan]

Yes PPV's are more exciting.

[Destor]

They sure used to be

[KIRA]

It's good in conception, until you realize that WWE doesn't get watched like live sports. Wrestling is also bad for advertising.

This.

[xrodmuc316]

If it was the only A show then I could see it becoming one of the biggest shows on Friday nights but considering by the time Friday rolls around most people will have already seen at least 4 or more hours of wrestling that week. I doubt it will be priority viewing for fans. I do think this whole deal is gonna end badly for WWE.

How can it and badly for WWE? Define what would be a bad ending? They have a 5 year contract, so they are getting that money no matter what, even if moved to Fox Sports. They have already moved the show from network to cable in the past without any disruption. They clearly have other options seeing how quickly they got a deal for NXT. Worst case they can just air it on the Network if they need to.

I would think ending badly for Fox is a much more valid argument.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Nothing does well on Friday. This wont be any different. Itll do the same average the last time they moved SD! to Friday.

I’m trying to remember the exact period that SmackDown was broadcast on Friday nights, and the Wiki says it was 2005-2015. There’s no way it could have been that long, right?

[Destor]

Shit... probably was

[#1-norm-fan]

I thought they moved back to Thursday for a time before going live.

[Emperor Smeat]

Itll do the same average the last time they moved SD! to Friday.

I doubt it since the last time it aired on Fridays, it wasn't as a live show.

Moving the show from taped to live added a few hundred thousand extra viewers on average when USA Network demanded the change. That was on top of the added viewers they got when it was moved to Tuesdays.

Don't see it getting the extra 1+ million FOX thinks the show will get for the long term but it won't bottom out that bad unless WWE completely tanks the show. FOX would likely banish the show to FS1 before that even happens.

[GD]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TkODrCv31QM/maxresdefault.jpg

[Mr. Nerfect]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TkODrCv31QM/maxresdefault.jpg

Racist.

[GD]

Ya don’t say, Sherlock!

[Droford]

I think it'll be funny if more people watch Smackdown on friday than RAW.

But honestly the true test of how the ratings will be should probably have already happened...or at least tonight..and thats with all the Smackdown advertising Sunday during NFL will more people be watching Smackdown tonight?

[slik]

Observation:

Every time on Twitter I see people mention FOX or the NFL promoting WWE & SDLive I look up recent tweets and it's only wrestling fans talking about it -- I don't think the interest is there from the general public.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don’t know if there are many people that don’t know WWE exists but would want it to.

[slik]

These non-WWE fans are PUMPED for Friday Night SmackDown!


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Baseball fans angry over hearing about a real sport &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; <a href="https://t.co/wL1axXu294">pic.twitter.com/wL1axXu294</a></p>&mdash; Just⚱️n (@Justin_SofOK) <a href="https://twitter.com/Justin_SofOK/status/1174838066734882816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Triple A]

FOX has been doing like 800k-1m on Friday nights from 8-10 for the past couple of months, so even if SmackDown stays at 2m, still gonna be a big improvement for FOX for a lot of the year

[slik]

I think it debuts at 4 million and settles (eventually) at 2.5 million

[slik]

Keith Olbermann has CENA NUFF

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You guys are kidding, right? <a href="https://t.co/RfdsQbjk3o">pic.twitter.com/RfdsQbjk3o</a></p>&mdash; Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1174833888071475200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Shisen Kopf]

Smackdown should be on UPN only.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently FOX's airing of Smackdown is going to be handled in a pretty weird way. East Coast being live and West Coast being tape delayed isn't an issue but Mountain Time Zone will have 2-3 different airing times depending on the cable provider.

Status quo so far, right? The mountain time zone is where things get interesting.

Fox’s “Friday Night SmackDown” will air at 7 p.m. MT, according to Fox Sports and WWE, which is 6 p.m. PT (and 8 p.m. central/9 p.m. eastern). In other words, the mountain time zone will soon get “SmackDown” two actual hours before the west coast does, and just one-hour tape-delayed overall.

Which feed mountain-time viewers actually received depended on their cable affiliate. So some fans there would see the show starting at 6 p.m. local time (MT), others at 9 p.m. local time (MT). That is, unless a viewer had DirecTV, which picked up USA’s east coast feed for the entire country. Any west-coast DirecTV subscriber* got USA’s “SmackDown Live” at 5 p.m. PT explaining our asterisk from above.

Not anymore. DirecTV customers can no longer watch “SmackDown Live”…live. “Friday Night SmackDown” on Fox will start at 8 p.m. PT on the west coast– even for satellite TV customers.

[Droford]

But west coast people with Directv can watch AEW live since theres an East and West coast feed of TNT.

[Jordan]

Man the west coast is a much better coast but at least I never have to deal with those TV times.

[Stickman]

Man the west coast is a much better coast but at least I never have to deal with those TV times.

Watching NFL at 10am is wonderful

[DAMN iNATOR]

TBF, They're ditching the "LIVE" in the name and adding "Friday Night" to it. I don't understand why we're splitting hairs over live vs. pre-recorded here.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BOOYAKA BOOYAKA<a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWE</a> Superstar <a href="https://twitter.com/reymysterio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@reymysterio</a> in the building for the <a href="https://twitter.com/Vikings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vikings</a> game today! <a href="https://t.co/kOTHkl8c8s">pic.twitter.com/kOTHkl8c8s</a></p>&mdash; FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports/status/1175831626208677888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 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">Dish Network dropped Fox channels this afternoon - the broadcast channel, FS1, BTN, FS2.</p>&mdash; John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ourand_SBJ/status/1177284239848562689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 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">Everyone at <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOXSports</a> is excited, in their own unique way ����, about <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWE</a> Friday Night SmackDown coming to FOX. <br><br>(via. <a href="https://twitter.com/NASCARONFOX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASCARONFOX</a>)<br> <a href="https://t.co/sDHvzIiSml">pic.twitter.com/sDHvzIiSml</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1177427192986267650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[rez]

pitiful to have tape delays in this day and age

[erickman]

what a time for dish to drop fox

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BOOYAKA BOOYAKA<a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWE</a> Superstar <a href="https://twitter.com/reymysterio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@reymysterio</a> in the building for the <a href="https://twitter.com/Vikings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vikings</a> game today! <a href="https://t.co/kOTHkl8c8s">pic.twitter.com/kOTHkl8c8s</a></p>&mdash; FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports/status/1175831626208677888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The FOX Sports announcer who made the Nacho Libre joke discussed the backlash he got from wrestling fans online for the joke and getting to meet Mysterio before the NFL game.

FOX announcer Mark Schlereth who compared Rey Mysterio to Nacho Libre, took to his ‘Stinkin Truth’ podcast and talked about how fans of professional wrestling criticized him for his comments about Mysterio: “I seem to consistently step in it. So I do a promo, because now FOX is in with WWE wrestling superstars and I do a promo with this WWE superstar Rey — God I can’t even remember his… Mysterio!”, Mark Schlereth was reminded by his co-host. “First off, I meet him, great guy. He’s in his mask. I don’t know. I call it — from Nacho Libre, that’s what I know it from. His luchador”, Schlereth said while rolling the “r” in luchador. “Woo, that was great. Luchador [rolling “r”] mask, and so, I’m like… he’s got a spare and I’m like, ‘Oh let me put that on. We’ll go do this together’ and he’s like, ‘Ehh, it’s probably not going to fit your head’ and it’s not that I have a big head, Mike. For an ex-offensive lineman, I’ve kind of got a little tiny peanut head.” Schlereth continued, “This guy is 5’7 and maybe 170 pounds or something. His head is small compared to my head. So anyhow, he was right, it didn’t fit so we do this little wrestling promo and it’s silly. It’s 15 seconds, whatever. I meet his son and we’re talking about football and wrestling and all these things and then they flashed him and he’s sitting in the stands with his mask on and we flashed to him and I say something about the luchador mask and Nacho Libre. It was like, ‘It reminded me of the Nacho Libre mask’ you know? And wrestling fan[s] went ape bananas on me like I’m the most disrespectful guy in the history of broadcasting and that’s a superstar of WWE and how disrespectful can I be and I should learn the sport type of thing and I’m just like, ‘You’re kidding me right?’”

Mark’s co-host chimed in and said, “So, they’re telling you to be more serious about something that’s fake?” Mark then continued, “Exactly. Be more serious about the soap opera that is the sport.”

Between sports announcers getting upset and FOX's sports fans getting upset with the constant bombarding of wrestling ads during games, seriously doubt FOX will get the amount of cross-over viewers they are expecting for Smackdown to be a big success on the network.

[slik]

I saw someone mention on the Observer boards that the first 30 minutes of the "SD's greatest moments" on FOX special is mainly vignettes of stars who are no longer in WWE.

lol

[slik]

same person just posted 'Ha, the last 10 mins & they’ve finally starting airing videos on the current roster stars.'

[James Steele]

I think tagging wrestling under the “Fox Sports” banner is silly. The Masked Singer has a “Smackdown” segment with a little crawl for SD! coming to Fox in the corner. That’s not a bad plan. You’re just going to get resentment and eye rolls from legitimate sports fans bombarding them with superstar crossovers and segments. People watch sports to watch the game, and stuff that takes them away from the game pisses them off.

[Mr. Nerfect]

This is starting to get a really bad feeling to it. It will probably just be nothing and SmackDown will be a 2 million viewer show every Friday, but there’s something really...tense about it.

[xrodmuc316]

This is starting to get a really bad feeling to it. It will probably just be nothing and SmackDown will be a 2 million viewer show every Friday, but there’s something really...tense about it.

I don't know, I can't remember wrestling ever getting this much outside promotion. Maybe going back to the original Saturday Night Main Event days, but nothing close since then.

I think long term if Fox keeps this level of promotion up, they can certainly drive viewers to tune in. Then it's up to the E to hook them.

The average new fan that gets hooked will be on that ride for a good 2-3 years before fading away. There just hasn't been anything good in the last 2 years to hook new casual fans to replace the ones that are fading away.

If WWE suddenly gets their shit together and starts putting out can't miss tv, the opportunity to grow the fan base is certainly there.

[Emperor Smeat]

Think NBC had around a similar level of promotion when they brought back RAW to USA Network and signed for a bunch of WWE programming on their own network. Difference being NBC was targeting their entertainment viewers to tune in and not sports viewers like FOX is trying.

Lasted a few months before NBC pulled the plug on WWE shows on their network and maybe a year or two later before they dropped the Mania specials as well. Outside of trying to boost ad rates for WWE shows, they've been pretty much hands-off with USA Network's handling of WWE shows.

[slik]

I gathered AEW is advertising during NFL on CBS and WWE (of course) during NFL on FOX.


Smackdown's greatest hits special on Friday on FOX did 1.39 million viewers