I think the vast majority of people still watching Raw every week at this point probably don’t care. I just can’t see the crossover audience between WWE and passionate political activists being all that huge.

I think the current fans they are pretty much guaranteed to get watching will boo or don't like crown jewel, but will watch it on the network and not tune out to boycott because they really don't give a shit in the long run.

Other than John Oliver shitting on them and some bad press, the Saudi show is unlikely to have a negative impact on them long term, imo.

Raw started off higher... was just sooo meh all through out.

Hourly breakdown:

8PM: 2,723,000
9PM: 2,455,000
10PM: 2,237,000

Average Viewership - 2.37 million

Hr 1 - 2.61
Hr 2 - 2.38
Hr 3 - 2.11


Third hour nearly dropped below 2 million.


credit - wrestlinginc

Meltzer w/ more on SD and RAW Ratings for the week in this week's Observer:

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

“The return of Becky Lynch” lol. How long was she gone?

I could see RAW dipping below 2 million on both Dec. 24th and Dec. 31st, which are both Mondays this year.

Note - last year this week RAW did a 2.8 rating...I think the low ratings will continue until the build to the Royal Rumble begins.

Not to hit a man while he's down, but I bet you Vince is sitting there like "SEE! I told all of you Roman was a big draw for us!"

How does the year-on-year drop compare to recent weeks?

I mean a main event with Tamina Snuka in 2018, what the hell did Vince expect.

Not knowing American TV well, how does the ratings RAW gets compare to other programmes in that timeslot on different days?

How low does RAW have to go before it becomes a risk of their current/future networks deciding they can put something better in that slot?

Genuine question, as American networks very different to what we have here.

RAW is one of the top twenty shows on Cable each week. RAW will do fine unless it ever drops below a million.

RAW has, on average, lost 300,000 - 400,000 viewers a year for the last few years each year.


12/9/2013
RAW
4,218,000 - 1st hr
4,177,000 - 2nd hr
4,062,000 - 3rd hr

:y:

NFL ratinngs are down....mlbs ratings are down...nbas ratings are down...its almost like the medium is dying

WWE’s ratings are falling at a faster rate than any other sport. That’s an issue.

I was more wondering if they’d been losing say 5% vs 2017 in the previous 6 weeks, and this week was 10%. Or if they’ve been losing X number of viewers every week and this was a significant fall?

Basically, did last week’s show result in more people than usual choosing not to tune in?

Thanks a lot RAW!

Id like to see some data on that if you have it. Also be worth to see how it tracks against lpime time tv.

I wouldn't say the sky is falling, but if the bottom drops out, I think it will drop out rather suddenly. Things will be fine until they aren't.

RAW did it's (new) lowest rating EVER last night.

Revenue is up 14%

WWE is "on path to exceed the financial targets established at the start of the 2017 year."

WWE "expects another year of record revenue and profits." "Operating income was $33.9 million.

Funny how the ratings seem to have nothing to donwith success...man...why arent those ratings hurting business?

...could they be a dated metric?

Stock more than doubled this yesr too

The thing I don't get is how are they still living and dying by ratings, and yet, The Network is a thing? Like, they don't give a shit about PPV numbers anymore, which are also something that they cannibalized themselves...

Throwing away the portion of the downturn that is contributed to by really lazy writing and shitty booking, are they even factoring in the fact that someone might be looking at the show on their tablet instead of The USA Network? Or DVR? Or after the fact on Hulu (if they still even do that I don't know I haven't used Hulu in years)? It isn't like the Monday Night War era where not watching generally really meant not watching.

It may be a dated metric, but for some reason, it's a dated metric they really care about for some reason.

Yes, they use all those things and the Live + 7 for DVR. WWE doesn't generally rise much with those after the initial rating.

They arent living or dieing by ratings. I dont know why you think that. Theyre not using those numbers to judge anything. And theyre right not to.

If you think ratings are something theyre watching then what efforts have you seen them make in response to these numbers?

Its 2018. If you're thinking ratings matter youre a luddite.

Facts are networks are throwing bags of money at them. Do you think they dont see the ratings? Times have changed. These arent relevent anymore.

Continually doing record low ratings and having consistent drops in live attendance is a bad thing for wwe. I don't understand why that's hard to grasp. Less people viewing a product doesn't make them more money in the future.


Ratings and Attendance have dropped 20-25% in the last year and is finally eating into their biggest demographic, the old fans (the +50 age demo is the largest viewership of WWE). "But they made more money"...and that won't continue if this trend does...


There is this bizarre attitude some seem to have that WWE is "too big to fail". They aren't, at all. I've long suspected the upswing would lead to the exact opposite at some point. "But they have 6 hrs of TV a week and more ppvs and tickets cost more and they are trying to make nxt everywhere and the roster is so talented"


All it took was for that small number of people they pushed to get injured and the bad creative and all these things people claimed were positives are slowly drifting towards being liabilities. Boom. No one is too big too fail. If SD on FOX flops FOX has no obligation to keep airing it. WWE doesn't get a billion dollars over 5 years no matter what. That's not how TV works. FOX could even send it to FS1 (Fox Sports 1) at a much less price. FS1 isn't in as many homes as USA Network and does an average rating of 500,000. Something like WWE would probably double that, but 1 million vs 2 million is far less eyeballs. FOX is going to care about the 18-50 viewing demographic, as that is prime real estate for advertisers. Advertisers are how TV Networks make money. If that viewership performs poorly then FOX won't make as much money having to sell ads to BENGAY and LIFE INSURANCE as they would to companies that appeal to people with traditionally more expendable income.


When WWE moves SD to FOX they will likely ship their big names to SD. FOX is in more homes than USA so the opportunity for exposure is much greater.The brands will stay separate bc why would FOX want to promote talent on a NBC cable station like USA? Why would FOX want something that aired on their network to have resolution on a cable channel instead of FOX? When that happens I expect RAW to tank further via having fewer big names and all the same creative problems it has had for a couple years. Nothing indicates WWE is going to wildly change their creative direction or feels interested in doing so. Also of great importance: the trend for WWE is to lose fans and not regain them. That has been the defacto trend in viewership the last 5-6 years.


They don't replace them with new fans either. Children are not likely going to see a cilp on social media or channel surfing and become addicted to WWE. How could they? What characters does WWE have? When you think of your time watching WWE growing up if someone said MACHO MAN or UNDERTAKER or VAL VENIS or BIG BOSSMAN you instantly know the character and who they are. What is Bobby Lashley's character? What is Seth's? Drew? Does Finn have a character or just have an entrance? So few wrestlers today have characters. And the sheer amount of programming available isn't going to entice new fans to watch, it's going to overwhelm them and turn them off.


Ratings DO matter. That's how they got the billion dollar deal. WWE promoted a consistent viewership who tunes in, no matter, week after week. TV stations love that in today's media. It's the same reason film studios make sequels and remakes so often -- there's an existing base for the product. What is happening is WWE is starting to slowly erode that base. THAT is a problem.


Hopefully when they move to FOX the notes they receive from network executives steer Vince into a cohesive show that is new-viewer friendly. Hopefully airing what will be your flagship show on a Friday night, a terrible night for television viewing, doesn't hurt them. Hopefully between now and then they don't continue to erode their base audience. At this rate the only show with a hope of cracking above 2.6 or 2.7 million viewers in 2019 is the RAW after WM. WWE's ratings will go up from mid-January thru WM season. The thing to watch will be how much. They aren't going to jet to 3 million. A million more eyeballs won't tune in than are now. The losing of viewers have been steady.


There is a chance ratings continue to nosedive until Oct 2019 when the SD move happens. There is a chance SD flops. There is a chance RAW flops when SD gets most of the big names. Say SD gets sent to FS1, the big names go back to RAW, but it's too late, the viewers don't tune back in, that's the consistent trend. There's a real chance the viewing audience if all this happens could be a million to a million and a half. There's a chance the XFL could flop for Vince as well.


One of the biggest mistakes WCW made was thinking it was too big to fail and the ratings/money wouldn't end. And going to three hour Nitros.


TV Ratings do matter.

I'm the guy who always made the argument that ratings don't mean very much today, certainly not like 20 years ago.

That being said, even I think the levels they have fallen this past month are alarming.

I don't know if Vince got the new TV deals and decided to coast for a few months, if he is preoccupied with the XFL, if he is just such an egomaniac he thinks he can just flip the switch anytime he wants, if he thinks the fans are so dumb that having Seth complain in one promo is gonna trick us into thinking this has played out exactly how he booked it, or what.

I know WWE will ramp it up for Mania, then have a a chance to keep the momentum going heading into the summer, but every week they put out trash shows and lose viewers, they are digging a larger hole they have to climb out of to win the viewers back.

If ratings don't matter than why does The Super Bowl charge millions for thirty second ads? It can't be because ratings determine advertising fees and that is one of the major sources of income for a TV Network.

If ratings don't matter then why do tv shows no one watches get cancelled; why don't they just stay on the air forever?

Sry Slik you just need to get on Destor's level.

SDL is up!

You say this as a joke but you really really do.

This is about percentages. Not numbers. The pie has shrunk and that has INCREASED the value. A 2.8 in 2018 is better than a 8.4 in 1998. If that very basic principle loses you I dont know how to have a conversation about mathematics. I cant walk you through a decade of econ on TPWW.

The stock is soaring. Its insane. But you guys are worried about ratings. you're stuck in the past and you dont understand how the market has shifted.

The networks do. And theyve deemed this among the most valuable programs in existence. What do you think you know that they dont?

The gate being down is an issue but thats another conversation.

Ratings will not effect cash flow; this doesnt matter

lmfao

Tell me Destor, do you happen to wear a fedora? If so, it would explain a lot.

Ratings aren't the be-all end-all like they were during the Monday Night War or the expansion of WWF in the late 90s, but they do matter. WWE is making so much money largely because they are getting thrown these giant bags of money for their television content. If people aren't going to watch it then that is going to dry up, which means other revenue streams, which are dwindling, are going to matter so much more.

I think it's quite narrow-minded to assume that things are going to go up, and up and up for the company just because they are doing well right now. That television landscape is going to change even more. What happens to the stock if SmackDown flops on FOX and they don't get picked up at the end of those three years and they have to slide back onto cable for much smaller rights fees? What happens to the perception of the company should they lose international TV deals?