Ratings coming off Wrestlemania....
 

Well, ratings picked up a bit right before Mania, and the show after Mania, both hours drew 3.6.

One week Lated, WWE slips to 3.4 and 3.0 hours, one hour falling to the #10 slot.

Still half of what they were about 8 years ago

Besides wrestlemania I havn't watched since Feb

Still WCW ratings.

Still indicative that Mania was the only thing sustaining the ratings.

Still proof that John Cena is a draw. :shifty:

Even WCW managed in the 2.0-2.5's competing against RAW, Smackdown struggles to keep a 3.0.

Look at the low points from both WCW and WWE ratings wise, around 2.0, and WWE is only managing to double that being the only major promotion around with no competetion.

A lot of that has to do with wrestling being in a boom period back then

A lot of it also has to do with the business being awful.

People can blame "booms" and "busts," but really, politics hurts the business. People get driven away,. fans stop caring, and a force fed product gets low ratings. We only need to look at the mixed reaction the TOP BABYFACE gets to see what's going on. that's not because wrestling's a bust, it's because Cena's going to be on top, even if it means another ratings slump, and live shows from Guilford Vermont at the Volunteer firehouse.

Maybe they won't get 8.0 ratings, but there's no excuse for them not doing better right now. Ignoring pops, ignoring boos, they're keeping the business down themselves.

I don't believe in a cyclical wrestling business. We have a documented series of events where good decisions=ratings and bad decisions=drops. That's not a cyclical system, that's just bad business.

TV ratings may be lacklustre (but not latter day WCW depths just yet) but house show business is strong.

TV exists mainly to sell the product... the money comes from house shows, merchandise and PPVs.

I doubt they are majorly concerned about ratings which, while they pale in comparison to what they once were and could well be improved with a hot product, are really not bad ratings. Of course, higher ratings equal more visability which translates into more money, so they ought to be more concerned.

Strong house shows usually leads to strong merchandise too, what with T-shirt/DVD sales etc at merchandise stands. PPVs aren't doing as well, but WWE are sitting pretty on the live attendance front right now. They are doing sell outs again.

And it not like the WWE doesnt ignore portions of there fan base or anything.

Smaller venues, touring overseas to supplment...YHeah, very strong.

Exactly...House Show business is strong because they're going over seas alot. They always seem to do better there since they rarely go there.

WWE has always toured overseas, not just during "down" periods. They make great money abroad, playing to large wrestling-starved audiences rather than hitting, say, Memphis for the 8th time in a twelve month period.

As for smaller venues, I assume these venues are booked months and months in advance. Now that they are consistantly selling out, I would expect them to start booking larger venues again.

Of course, the danger is that when the time comes to play those venues, they will be half empty again.

Like how in the attitude era they were in some small venues, yet Wrestlemanias 18 and 19 were in huge venues at a time when the popularity had fallen

Well, among other things, they';re touring new markets, and more often.

This was reported as being due to attendance being down.

Sure, they've always toured overseas. They've also been limited in the number of venues they've toured overseas, the duration, and the places they've filmed. That's changed.

A lot of actions they've taken over the past couple years are also indicative of belt tightening.

Although, with the rumoured global expansion, it makes sense for them to be touring new areas... market research. Why set up a new branch that will tour, say, India without exploring the popularity of the current company in the region? If they can't draw with their full roster, what chance will an Asian branch off have?

As for belt tightening, that is something we have been seeing on a regular basis ever since they went public. Especially around the quarter points of each year.