Wrestling becoming streaming exclusive

[Deleted]

Lets say hypothetically, Peacock decides to make WWE RAW and Smackdown(I know about FOX) streaming exclusive. Warner Media decides to make AEW Dynamite and Rampage also as streaming exclusive. Both are still live, respectively, and possibly with no commercials.

Do you think this would change anything as far as ratings, demos, and demographics go? I feel that Neilson, when it rolls out it's new way to count content, which includes streaming, would determine better what the 18-49 is watching and how they are watching it. Also, they can moderate when someone skips or fast forward a match or a promo, which can help determine what works and what doesn't.

For wrestling fans, would anything change as far as consumption and criticism go? Would you personally have to change your habits when watching wrestling? I can see people, especially myself, watching WWE RAW the next day when I have more free time, since I usually go to sleep these days at 10:00PM EST.

Honestly, I can see this reality happening once streaming services become really desperate.

[Feyrhausen]

Streaming exclusive would be the slow death knell for wrestling. Look at comic books. They used to be sold everywhere so anyone could grab a copy and become a new reader. They began to be sold only at specialty stores for greater profits but now there are very few new readers. Their customers keep trending older and fewer. Right now someone can become a new fan by flipping through the channels and seeing something that interests them. I started watching again in 2002 by flipping and seeing Rock challenging Hogan to the Mania match. Once the audience has to seek out the product to even try it they are slowly but surely done.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Streaming is big, but cable still reaches a wider audience and until that changes cable is still wrestling’s golden ticket to ticket sales.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

The WWE struggled to match the money they made from DVD and PPV sales with the network, switching to streaming only would push their audience numbers off a cliff and they would struggle to recover no matter how well the company was booked. Ask Impact how it's going for them, digging out of the reputational hole that the scummy Jarrett/Dixie/Russo hydra dug.

[celtics543]

Cable is still the best way to go. They need to bring in new fans and if they're on streaming exclusively then no one is just going to stumble on them and become a fan.

To answer your question, ratings would fall off a cliff, the demo would get older because not as many new fans are watching, and if people want to watch Raw the next day they can already do that with a DVR so I don't think it would change many viewing habits.

[Bo Rida]

I already think WWE are suffering from doing a piss poor job of hooking kids since Cena stopped being the top guy. Don't want to cut off the easiest way of reaching new fans.

Even if essentially free how much time do people spend flicking through massive catalogues and being unable to chose anything. Don't think anything other than the rumble or wm would draw people in.

Personally streamings great, more companies are easily accessible and it's usually cheaper, uncut and not days late.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

Feb 1, 2022 14:27:44 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I already think WWE are suffering from doing a piss poor job of hooking kids since Cena stopped being the top guy. Don't want to cut off the easiest way of reaching new fans.

Even if essentially free how much time do people spend flicking through massive catalogues and being unable to chose anything. Don't think anything other than the rumble or wm would draw people in.

Personally streamings great, more companies are easily accessible and it's usually cheaper, uncut and not days late.

I would bet money that YouTube is #2 way people under 18 discover WWE, #1 being parent/sibling/other relative introduces them. I imagine you’re average 12 year old is gonna find WWE on Peacock before they find it on USA linear.

Doesn’t mean the company should go fully streaming anytime soon, but I sincerely doubt many 5-12 year olds are discovering WWE for the first time because they turned on Raw

[tafkaga]

Feb 1, 2022 14:44:01 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

Feb 1, 2022 14:27:44 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I already think WWE are suffering from doing a piss poor job of hooking kids since Cena stopped being the top guy. Don't want to cut off the easiest way of reaching new fans.

Even if essentially free how much time do people spend flicking through massive catalogues and being unable to chose anything. Don't think anything other than the rumble or wm would draw people in.

Personally streamings great, more companies are easily accessible and it's usually cheaper, uncut and not days late.

I would bet money that YouTube is #2 way people under 18 discover WWE, #1 being parent/sibling/other relative introduces them. I imagine you’re average 12 year old is gonna find WWE on Peacock before they find it on USA linear.

Doesn’t mean the company should go fully streaming anytime soon, but I sincerely doubt many 5-12 year olds are discovering WWE for the first time because they turned on Raw

Yeah, I haven't done cable in many years, but for me looking scrolling through Netflix/other streaming platforms is the modern form of channel surfing.  Streaming isn't the future anymore.  It's the now, and kids know how to navigate this stuff now.  Plus, it's just more accessible when it's on demand.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Streaming very well may become more profitable for wrestling in the future given that most millennials and GenXers prefer that to cable, but there’s still a big chunk of nostalgic fans who are older and still tune into USA for Raw or would prefer to watch AEW on TBS. Call it habit, chalk it up to WWE marketing their past a lot, but it’s still going to take some more time and cord cutting for it to be the #1 cash option. And companies who may have streaming and cable services like Comcast are still happy having both TV and online options to sell WWE material.

[Bo Rida]

Feb 1, 2022 14:44:01 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

Feb 1, 2022 14:27:44 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I already think WWE are suffering from doing a piss poor job of hooking kids since Cena stopped being the top guy. Don't want to cut off the easiest way of reaching new fans.

Even if essentially free how much time do people spend flicking through massive catalogues and being unable to chose anything. Don't think anything other than the rumble or wm would draw people in.

Personally streamings great, more companies are easily accessible and it's usually cheaper, uncut and not days late.

I would bet money that YouTube is #2 way people under 18 discover WWE, #1 being parent/sibling/other relative introduces them. I imagine you’re average 12 year old is gonna find WWE on Peacock before they find it on USA linear.

Doesn’t mean the company should go fully streaming anytime soon, but I sincerely doubt many 5-12 year olds are discovering WWE for the first time because they turned on Raw

Oh I didn't mean it like that. More I think they lost most of a generation due to content of the shows regardless of platform, there's fewer of those older siblings, or even younger parents by now. Cena, Orton and Batista's era seemed to resonate more with kids.

But I assume the TV shows still bring in the odd older fan, or more likely lapsed fan in a way streaming doesn't.

That said I see more kids at aew shows now so maybe it's not that bad.

[chazraps]

We kind of have a microcosm example of how bad this would go after Chikara switched to streaming from their platform only circa 2016 and how it dwindled their fanbase.

[DSR]

I was gonna say, do people even "flip" channels anymore? Like, even if you have cable, you scroll through the guide and read what they're playing, rather than change each individual channel until something looks interesting. Right?

[eJm]

Feb 1, 2022 16:06:19 GMT -5 DSR said:

I was gonna say, do people even "flip" channels anymore? Like, even if you have cable, you scroll through the guide and read what they're playing, rather than change each individual channel until something looks interesting. Right?

Like, maybe it's just an American thing because even as a kid, I very rarely flipped channels. I knew what I wanted to watch and knew the number of the channel to watch. And even if I was going to switch, I would go through certain blocks of stuff I knew I would like (so terrestrial channels, comedy channels, movie channels, kids channels etc). Even where I live, the channels we mostly watch are Virgin One (basically ITV programming in Ireland), Film4 or Comedy Central (or "The channel that got the UK and Ireland rights to Friends and likes to remind you of that").

It became less likely when internal TV guides became a thing so you can see what it is instead of actually going to the channel.

[Bo Rida]

Apparently repeats of the big bang theory before dynamite lead to better ratings. I don't think "flip channels" is necessarily literal, more things like that where people may stumble across and stick around a while.
Also why they often start with the main event and/or biggest draws.

[tafkaga]

Feb 1, 2022 16:04:39 GMT -5 chazraps said:

We kind of have a microcosm example of how bad this would go after Chikara switched to streaming from their platform only circa 2016 and how it dwindled their fanbase.

But didn't they just have their own streaming service where it was nothing but Chikara?  That's way different to me than having your wrestling product on a major service like Peacock, Hulu, etc.

[wildojinx]

Feb 1, 2022 15:41:53 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

Feb 1, 2022 14:44:01 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

I would bet money that YouTube is #2 way people under 18 discover WWE, #1 being parent/sibling/other relative introduces them. I imagine you’re average 12 year old is gonna find WWE on Peacock before they find it on USA linear.

Doesn’t mean the company should go fully streaming anytime soon, but I sincerely doubt many 5-12 year olds are discovering WWE for the first time because they turned on Raw

Oh I didn't mean it like that. More I think they lost most of a generation due to content of the shows regardless of platform, there's fewer of those older siblings, or even younger parents by now. Cena, Orton and Batista's era seemed to resonate more with kids.

But I assume the TV shows still bring in the odd older fan, or more likely lapsed fan in a way streaming doesn't.

That said I see more kids at aew shows now so maybe it's not that bad.

On the other hand, kids have to rely on their parents to get these sites, and said parent may not want to pay for Peacock or HBO MAX.

[cassonova]

Honestly, it would very much depend on the streaming platform and its popularity. If they streamed from the more popular services such as Peacock, Hulu, YouTube, it may not be as much of an issue. However, you have the NWA, Chikaratopia, etc. Which is not only brand specific, but is hidden behind a paywall, then you would definitely run into issues as those specifically catered to current fans.

However, as long as there is broadcast television, there will be wrestling there.

[Mozenrath]

Discoverability is REALLY important to a product that's trying to sell arena tickets. This would be perilous with most companies.