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Old 12-13-2018, 01:23 AM   #390
slik
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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.
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