Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Apr 4, 2024 21:55:49 GMT -5
And in the end, that's what's gonna matter more then anything else to Warner. I’m imagining the actual demo will be what matters most. But the ranking is nice too. The demo's been good too, it has to be good demo to tank top 3 unless all of cable just sucked that night, sometimes that can happen
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Apr 4, 2024 22:49:50 GMT -5
Both the actual number and the ranking carry significance. Would AEW get a better rights deal if they were doing .40 every week? Absolutely. But the market is also dictated by what's out there. RAW saw major declines throughout the 2010s but was often at the top of the charts. If the cable landscape is changing and you're still a top show, that means something.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Apr 5, 2024 0:09:45 GMT -5
Rank still means a lot because any channel that doesn't have sports on it is going to want to have programming that can withstand sports. If it was maybe fifth place on a boring and ordinary day, yeah, it'd suck a lot. But standing third behind two NBA games and with little off-season that can get in its way does carry some weight to it. Networks can't easily buy wins like that.
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Post by eJm on Apr 5, 2024 0:58:44 GMT -5
Rank still means a lot because any channel that doesn't have sports on it is going to want to have programming that can withstand sports. If it was maybe fifth place on a boring and ordinary day, yeah, it'd suck a lot. But standing third behind two NBA games and with little off-season that can get in its way does carry some weight to it. Networks can't easily buy wins like that. And I’ll say again, and I’m sorry for keep beating this drum but there are enough receipts for it, that is what Warner Bros Discovery talks about. The demo that ranks high enough for them to be #1 if it wasn’t for Sports. It’s why RAW was backed so long by USA even after it went from a 5m a week show to a 1.7m a week show. Because they were getting the audience they want to watch USA and were consistently in the Top 5-10 in TV.
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Post by Cyno on Apr 5, 2024 11:12:36 GMT -5
Rank still means a lot because any channel that doesn't have sports on it is going to want to have programming that can withstand sports. If it was maybe fifth place on a boring and ordinary day, yeah, it'd suck a lot. But standing third behind two NBA games and with little off-season that can get in its way does carry some weight to it. Networks can't easily buy wins like that. We're also in crunch time of the NBA season and the postseason is right around the corner.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Apr 5, 2024 11:27:10 GMT -5
I think the “people won’t tune in even if their faves get signed” thing was pretty patently proven false when Mercedes drew a milli initially. The problem is those people remember what show this actually is and turn it off. It’s an issue with the product. People will watch but there’s just not much meat on the bone here unless you already know cats like Okada and Osprey. Particularly when the industry leader is both running white hot AND has over saturated the market. Need to get some of these acts hot and that’s gonna take some dedicated booking. This is the first real shaky waters AEW has gone through roster wise. This is when an actual Booker earns their clout.
The talent is there, the tv exposure is obviously there. But it’s like childish gambino said. “Yeah, you got some silverware but really, are you eating tho??” AEW just ain’t eating like they should.
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Post by Fade is a CodyCryBaby on Apr 5, 2024 12:40:50 GMT -5
I think the “people won’t tune in even if their faves get signed” thing was pretty patently proven false when Mercedes drew a milli initially. The problem is those people remember what show this actually is and turn it off. It’s an issue with the product. People will watch but there’s just not much meat on the bone here unless you already know cats like Okada and Osprey. Particularly when the industry leader is both running white hot AND has over saturated the market. Need to get some of these acts hot and that’s gonna take some dedicated booking. This is the first real shaky waters AEW has gone through roster wise. This is when an actual Booker earns their clout. The talent is there, the tv exposure is obviously there. But it’s like childish gambino said. “Yeah, you got some silverware but really, are you eating tho??” AEW just ain’t eating like they should. I just gotta shout out the BTI reference.
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Post by "Cane Dewey" Johnson on Apr 5, 2024 13:55:03 GMT -5
I think the “people won’t tune in even if their faves get signed” thing was pretty patently proven false when Mercedes drew a milli initially. The problem is those people remember what show this actually is and turn it off. It’s an issue with the product. People will watch but there’s just not much meat on the bone here unless you already know cats like Okada and Osprey. Particularly when the industry leader is both running white hot AND has over saturated the market. Need to get some of these acts hot and that’s gonna take some dedicated booking. This is the first real shaky waters AEW has gone through roster wise. This is when an actual Booker earns their clout. The talent is there, the tv exposure is obviously there. But it’s like childish gambino said. “Yeah, you got some silverware but really, are you eating tho??” AEW just ain’t eating like they should. I just gotta shout out the BTI reference. Really, shouldn't it be "Yeah, you got some John Silver-ware, but really, are you eating though?" Because he's always Hungiee.
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Post by Denny Zen is Cooking™ on Apr 5, 2024 15:50:20 GMT -5
I think the “people won’t tune in even if their faves get signed” thing was pretty patently proven false when Mercedes drew a milli initially. The problem is those people remember what show this actually is and turn it off. It’s an issue with the product. People will watch but there’s just not much meat on the bone here unless you already know cats like Okada and Osprey. Particularly when the industry leader is both running white hot AND has over saturated the market. Need to get some of these acts hot and that’s gonna take some dedicated booking. This is the first real shaky waters AEW has gone through roster wise. This is when an actual Booker earns their clout. The talent is there, the tv exposure is obviously there. But it’s like childish gambino said. “Yeah, you got some silverware but really, are you eating tho??” AEW just ain’t eating like they should. Man, I just can't agree with these kinds of sweeping statements. You might not be eating well when you watch AEW, but a lot of us are downright feasting on AEW's content, especially recently. Most everything that anyone claims is "hot" in WWE, I could generally respond with 15 reasons why I think it absolutely f***ing sucks, but that wouldn't be anything but my subjective opinion. We can try and microanalyze why, like, 44 people with Nielsen boxes who were consistently watching AEW two months ago aren't watching it now, but I'm not sure it's any more complicated than WWE being considered a family-friendly "sports entertainment" product with 50+ years of brand recognition and that is currently in its hottest season during a hot era brought about by the long overdue ousting of its lecherous Chairman and CEO, and AEW being a more niche "professional wrestling" company run by a pro wrestling nerd which primarily appeals to other professional wrestling nerds, and is still recovering from the damage caused by doing business with a giant manchild and his small, but devoted, cult of fans.
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Post by HMARK Center on Apr 5, 2024 16:47:36 GMT -5
I think the “people won’t tune in even if their faves get signed” thing was pretty patently proven false when Mercedes drew a milli initially. The problem is those people remember what show this actually is and turn it off. It’s an issue with the product. People will watch but there’s just not much meat on the bone here unless you already know cats like Okada and Osprey. Particularly when the industry leader is both running white hot AND has over saturated the market. Need to get some of these acts hot and that’s gonna take some dedicated booking. This is the first real shaky waters AEW has gone through roster wise. This is when an actual Booker earns their clout. The talent is there, the tv exposure is obviously there. But it’s like childish gambino said. “Yeah, you got some silverware but really, are you eating tho??” AEW just ain’t eating like they should. Man, I just can't agree with these kinds of sweeping statements. You might not be eating well when you watch AEW, but a lot of us are downright feasting on AEW's content, especially recently. Most everything that anyone claims is "hot" in WWE, I could generally respond with 15 reasons why I think it absolutely f***ing sucks, but that wouldn't be anything but my subjective opinion. We can try and microanalyze why, like, 44 people with Nielsen boxes who were consistently watching AEW two months ago aren't watching it now, but I'm not sure it's any more complicated than WWE being considered a family-friendly "sports entertainment" product with 50+ years of brand recognition and that is currently in its hottest season during a hot era brought about by the long overdue ousting of its lecherous Chairman and CEO, and AEW being a more niche "professional wrestling" company run by a pro wrestling nerd which primarily appeals to other professional wrestling nerds, and is still recovering from the damage caused by doing business with a giant manchild and his small, but devoted, cult of fans. Yeah, as a product AEW is really doing more than fine, it's been really f***ing good for awhile now. Even its supposed doldrums from late 2022 into some of 2023 feel overstated to me, but I can at least see there being issues during that time that turned some people off or had people wondering what was going on, which definitely came at a bad time as WWE was getting its shit together for what its fanbase wants from it. But it's also true that WWE being hot and eating up tons of weekly airtime is going to hurt every other company out there; they already had seven hours of prime time TV a week, and now they've got a product that its fanbase is happy with. Plain and simple, most fans aren't going to dedicate so many hours to pro wrestling a week (even AEW's 5 per week is arguably too much), so if WWE fans are happy with WWE right now, and happen to be of an age where they have concerns like jobs or kids or whatever other concern there might be, why wouldn't they just watch WWE? It's the established name and market leader, and its audience clearly has a particular style of show they want to see and that's where they're currently getting it from. That style of show is decidedly not for me; I think WWE is absolutely an improved product right now compared to the Vince years, but even then I personally have no interest in what they're doing beyond whatever Gunther's up to at the moment. But I'm also someone who hasn't been a full-on WWF/WWE fan since I was a kid, which means I'm not a really big chunk of the current wrestling viewing cable audience, so what I think means very little on this.
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mystermystery
Dennis Stamp
Still in the White Hummer
Posts: 4,375
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Post by mystermystery on Apr 6, 2024 10:09:56 GMT -5
You know, AEW is stuck right now having to play with what can be perceived (whether it's unfair or not) "other people's main eventers."
They really are missing a significant bit of Main Eventers they built, when you consider the history of the world title: Kenny Omega out for an incredibly long time (and hopefully fully recovering before he tries anything) MJF still healing Hangman Page off the show for a while Moxley finally resting Punk long gone. Jericho is still here but feels incredibly stale and in need of another patented reboot (just coasting off past 'selves' with Lionheart and Painmaker isn't enough of a jostle right now for his image).
Literally the only guy currently around to be deemed "The guy" for the company is the current champion who is a well known veteran wrestler who made his name in big promotions and spent time in WWE, where one of his last big matches was being summarily squashed by Brock Lesnar before retreating to NXT where his body failed him and he had to give up their title. I'm trying to make this point without sounding completely negative, so let me iterate I'm incredibly glad that Joe is healthier and champion. He's been great in the role (I really liked the triple threat with Swerve/Hangman, the fantastically told Hook match, plus the Wardlow match showed how well his psychology works even when he's not positioned as the 'monster' of the match)
I'm just saying, that if you watched the show a year ago...what do you got?
Mercedes Mone stretching out her debut doing literally everything but wrestling, her best stuff. Okada essentially transforming into the same heel he was when he started, but with expectations of "But its Okada and now he's with The Elite!" British Flippy Dude being all British and flippy?
These people are all amazingly talented and I swear I'm not trying to bag on them...but AEW is definitely in a rebuilding mode and despite having world class talent, they have to properly bring them into the AEW banner instead of being like "Look how great these people are, and now they're here." Yes, they are doing that with things like Okada being with The Elite but it's not going to be immediately successful no matter how big the talent is because you can't expect their popularity to maintain viewership. There are stories of how Ashton Kutcher got multiple starring roles because movie executives saw that he had "millions of followers on Twitter" in like 2009 or some nonsense but it didn't lead to financial success (but they didn't learn from it, if you hear candid conversations with directors who say they're still asked to provide how many followers they have on social media).
Okay...I'm done rattling. TL:DR, they have some of the best in the world, but until they're ingrained in the AEW stories and feel part of the show instead of a special guest, it may be harder to get people to watch since many of the bigger built stars are out or slipping in popularity.
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Zone Was Wrong
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Currently living off the high that AEW brings every Wednesday and Friday
Posts: 16,155
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Post by Zone Was Wrong on Apr 6, 2024 10:51:28 GMT -5
You know, AEW is stuck right now having to play with what can be perceived (whether it's unfair or not) "other people's main eventers." They really are missing a significant bit of Main Eventers they built, when you consider the history of the world title: Kenny Omega out for an incredibly long time (and hopefully fully recovering before he tries anything) MJF still healing Hangman Page off the show for a while Moxley finally resting Punk long gone. Jericho is still here but feels incredibly stale and in need of another patented reboot (just coasting off past 'selves' with Lionheart and Painmaker isn't enough of a jostle right now for his image). Literally the only guy currently around to be deemed "The guy" for the company is the current champion who is a well known veteran wrestler who made his name in big promotions and spent time in WWE, where one of his last big matches was being summarily squashed by Brock Lesnar before retreating to NXT where his body failed him and he had to give up their title. I'm trying to make this point without sounding completely negative, so let me iterate I'm incredibly glad that Joe is healthier and champion. He's been great in the role (I really liked the triple threat with Swerve/Hangman, the fantastically told Hook match, plus the Wardlow match showed how well his psychology works even when he's not positioned as the 'monster' of the match) I'm just saying, that if you watched the show a year ago...what do you got? Mercedes Mone stretching out her debut doing literally everything but wrestling, her best stuff. Okada essentially transforming into the same heel he was when he started, but with expectations of "But its Okada and now he's with The Elite!" British Flippy Dude being all British and flippy? These people are all amazingly talented and I swear I'm not trying to bag on them...but AEW is definitely in a rebuilding mode and despite having world class talent, they have to properly bring them into the AEW banner instead of being like "Look how great these people are, and now they're here." Yes, they are doing that with things like Okada being with The Elite but it's not going to be immediately successful no matter how big the talent is because you can't expect their popularity to maintain viewership. There are stories of how Ashton Kutcher got multiple starring roles because movie executives saw that he had "millions of followers on Twitter" in like 2009 or some nonsense but it didn't lead to financial success (but they didn't learn from it, if you hear candid conversations with directors who say they're still asked to provide how many followers they have on social media). Okay...I'm done rattling. TL:DR, they have some of the best in the world, but until they're ingrained in the AEW stories and feel part of the show instead of a special guest, it may be harder to get people to watch since many of the bigger built stars are out or slipping in popularity. I feel like this is a fair assessment of AEW atm. They got top notch free agents absolutely, but as said until they're ingrained in the AEW audience it's going to take awhile for them to be draws for the company. For my two cents, AEW in 2024 has been fantastic and the best they've been since 2021. They'll get their $$$ coming up soon regardless of the lull the ratings are supposedly showing.
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Post by eJm on Apr 6, 2024 12:59:54 GMT -5
Rebuilding is a fair assessment, especially when, honestly, they have the time to do so with the eyes on ‘Mania, March Madness, the NBA playoffs looming, whatever the heck the UFL turns out to be etc. And that’s not to say ratings will get better when some of that stuff ends or doesn’t clash but it’s more to say that the only way to rebuild is to actually build. Make people an established part of your show as you did with people when the brand started or with WWE when Austin and Rock weren’t full time or when Taker, HHH and Michaels were in their twilight years. To rush some of it or to assume they were always there will just drive people away because you’re trying to force it.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Apr 6, 2024 15:02:10 GMT -5
Meltzer mentioned that the trend the last two weeks has seen 35-49 remain relatively solid while they had big drops in 18-34 and that explains most of the drop in 18-49. He also noted that 18-34 is where WWE has gained a ton of ground over the past 2 years. You don't want this to become a trend but I'm curious what AEW's numbers look like post-Mania season (and really post playoffs as well).
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