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Canucks-12

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    The Newer Newer Official WWE/TNA thread.

    in Off-Topic General

    Posted

    3 hours ago, g_bassi13 said:

    They certainly do, even if they don't fluctuate their income on a week to week basis. These are historic lows. It's not just the number of people watching being low (below 3 million), but their rating share (percentage of people watching TV tuning into Raw). They've had a segment at a high of 8.1, at a time when WCW Nitro was in direct competition with them, because of just how sheer compelling their program became, and how necessary it was to tune in. This last week was a 2.15, the lowest since it looked like the company was on the verge of bankruptcy in the mid 90's.

    They're not on the verge of bankruptcy now, not even close, but it spells bad things for their viability going forward if things don't improve. For one, their TV contract is easily their most major source of income. That's primarily the US contract which these ratings are speaking to, but I can tell you without looking that their ratings will be down across the board in all countries outside of perhaps India, and a couple of others where wrestling culture is the same. But in Canada, the UK, Germany, and other American-like western countries, I can tell you that they're almost certainly not maintaining their popularity.

    Their TV contract is a set fee, which was one they signed when they had higher ratings, and they're being paid according to those higher numbers (which is why I said their income doesn't fluctuate from week to week), but if their ratings don't improve at the right rate, the USA Network will be forcing them to make some sort of changes, and they'll be at a massive disadvantage at their next contract negotiations.

    All the raw finances aside, these numbers just indicate a low customer engagement, especially for a show that markets itself as live must see TV. Remember that immediate DVR viewing is a thing that gets appropriated into ratings. For someone that takes days to watch it, or only clicks on YouTube to see a few segments and highlights, that's not the kind of engagement they need. You shrink the people willing to watch your product, you shrink your pool to market the WWE Network to, and shill their merchandise to.

    There's only a few more weeks for things to trend purely downwards, as we're going to be getting into the Royal Rumble/Wrestlemania season, where by default the ratings will have to pick up, as they market their biggest shows of the year, and they lose the weekly regular season competition from Monday Night Football and the NFL. They'll improve by default, but it's just the rate at which they improve, and how that compares to January in previous years that will be the barometer here.

    The numbers don't lie. And while they don't spell disaster, things aren't looking up.

     

     

    One marker for why things aren't looking up, is the sheer quality of the program, or there lack of. There's no external force this year that wasn't there last that's pushing viewers away this time. People on the broadest of scales aren't interested to find out what's currently happening or what happens next. And that's a reflection of what the WWE is choosing to put out there. This is a scripted improv program, but the scripted element is more forced than ever.

    There's nothing really going on. No one to watch for. They've sunk a lot of their creative gamble into the hope that Roman Reigns catches on with everyone, and that's the backwards way of doing things. Taking someone who the crowd has barely reacted to, and catering the show to serve to him because you think he has the "it" factor. He has been given the ball to run with, and the results aren't promising. His promos with the mic range from passable, to childishly bad and repetitive.

    The rest of the card sits around in either meaningless feuds, or just get tossed in meaningless matches on a week to week basis. People who get the crowd to respond seem to get the rug taken from under their feet in a way that it almost makes it feel like they're being intentionally held back. Crowds barely even cheer for their favourites any more because they know their people aren't going anywhere.

     

     

    Did you hear just how did that Charleston crowd was for this last Raw? They sat on their hands silently for the entire show, and they began to clear out before the show ended in a way that they had to maneuver their camera work to hide the empty seats. This has been a particular trend in the last few weeks, and is itself reflected in their third hour ratings which are falling off a cliff at a more accelerated rate than they were previously.

    Even the Smackdown taping they did yesterday for Thursdays show had apparently just a crowd of 3,000, and they were even more silent than the one for Raw on Monday. It doesn't matter in terms of TV presentation, as they always just add in cheers and boos to whomever they want on Smackdown, but again, it all comes back to customer engagement. It's hard to present a positive outlook in the future, when people aren't interested. Especially when the smaller crowd you've wrangled in are bored. Are they going to continue to just tune in, or pay you for tickets for the hell of it? They lose more and more along the way, and that's what's reflecting in these audiences and ratings. You have to keep people coming back and wanting more. Banking only on simply being the WWE will not get them far enough.

     

     

    This thread itself is an indicator of the state of things. It was far busier here in past years. Years that weren't even that good. This WWE product is just so apathetic that there's nothing to respond to. It's hard to even get riled up enough to complain for most. And we love complaining.

    You may be right. 

    I'll always be a fan though. 

    The Newer Newer Official WWE/TNA thread.

    in Off-Topic General

    Posted

    On November 24, 2015 at 5:23:48 PM, Mikey2Dope said:

    I'm a wrestling at heart, always will be. My neighbor had a satellite dish when I was a kid and recorded Summerslam 1989 on VHS and I never looked back. I'll always pay attention to wrestling even if I'm not watching.

    I have the WWE Network so I watch every PPV, good or bad. And I see a company that has the potential to be so damn good, but just makes creative mistake after mistake and is either scared to try and make new stars or just doesn't care what the fans want.

    So I watch and hope that we'll see the next later 80's era of wrestling or Stone Cold star making moment or to a lesser degee, the next Attitude era (I'm in the minority of thinking it was good but overrated). It's an abusive relationship.

    On that note, we aren't alone and the guy who usually who defends anything the company does is reaching his breaking point,

    From Mick Foley:

    I’m going to quote an article from July, 2014, called “The Sad Case Of Zack Ryder” in which I wrote: “Eventually, people get tired of finding out that the WWE Superstars they have supported with their cheers, their signs, their purchases, their follows, and their likes aren’t real Superstars – and, little by little, those fans lose interest in WWE, find other interests, and become former WWE fans.”

    I am one of those people on the verge of becoming a former WWE fan. I’m tired of being told through Raw, Smackdown and PPV’s that WWE superstars I have rooted for – from Ziggler to Cesaro to Kevin Owens aren’t top stars – no matter how strongly crowd reaction seems to disagree. I’m tired of NXT stars getting their big “break” in WWE, just to be treated like jokes.

    Six months ago, my son and I traveled 12 hours – from Eastern Tennessee to Orlando, Florida to watch Sasha Banks wrestle Becky Lynch at ‪#‎NXTTakeover‬.- One of the greatest women’s matches of all time. Last night, in what I believe was their first singles match on ‪#‎RAW‬ Sasha and Becky were given four minutes. At a time when WWE desperately needs to make new stars – when they need to give wrestlers with talent the opportunity to break through – they gave Sasha and Becky four minutes. I turned the channel, and watched a pretty good football game instead. I think I can get used to watching football games on Monday night again.

    I will be watching RAW this Monday. Maybe, as is often the case in relationships, they will give me just enough to remind me why I love wrestling – just enough to keep me coming back. Maybe they will even give Sasha and Becky a rematch – and a legitimate chance to show the world what they can do.

    There is an old saying in politics : as Ohio goes, so goes the nation. Think of me as the Ohio of wrestling fans. If I leave, it’s not just one disgruntled former fan; finding something else to do on Monday nights. Instead, my leaving might well be an indication of a larger exodus from WWE.

    I want to stay. I really do. So please WWE – next week on WWE Raw… Just give me a reason.

    You're a true fan 

    The Newer Newer Official WWE/TNA thread.

    in Off-Topic General

    Posted

    People need to stop taking it so seriously and enjoy what you're given. It may not be as great as it used to be but its still entertaining.

    To all that are complaining about the wwe lately, take a break. Stop watching for a while. That's what I did and I'm really enjoying it again!

    I don't just mean for a week or two, stop for months or a year

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