Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid
And that third hour of RAW is just not working. People are going to bed. I know the logic is that they get paid for that third hour, but how much money are they losing by overexposing their guys, having less eyes on the product and generally having less buzz around things? Don't get me wrong -- problems existed way before that third hour came in -- but losing it would give things a much more kinetic feel, allow more to be held off to SmackDown each week, and basically allow guys to stay that little tiny extra bit fresher than they are at the moment.
I don't know what WWE proposes. Maybe they can fill another hour elsewhere in the week with WWE programming? I know that's probably not what USA is after, but that third hour is just heatless. Crowd fatigue sets in too and that carries over to viewing audiences.
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I would bet everyone involved in terms of audience and creative all hate the third hour (me included). But you know who likes it? USA Network, thats why they are paying for it. WWE would be hard pressed to turn down the money. The only way they would drop it is if the ratings got so low, that USA couldnt sell ad space for that third hour. But there are many weeks when the third hour of RAW is the third highest watched hour of cable on Monday nights. So that means USA has advertisers lined up to buy time (this was verified in the last upfronts). its hard to imagine that changing. Advertisers want eyeballs. RAW delivers eyeballs more than just about anything on cable.