4/2 Smackdown viewership

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

A side-effect of John Oliver lambasting the company’s shitty business practices just a few days before?

[Sicho100]

Apr 3, 2019 18:45:06 GMT -5 @rebelliousworkhorse said:

Honest question: Why don't the folks who blame Corbin, Mcintyre etc. for low ratings do the same for Kofi and Bryan?

I personally think it's inaccurate to place a lot of blame on the talent for bad ratings, but hey, fair is fair.

Smackdown's viewership numbers are really just a function of Raw's numbers. Since the Brand Split/SD going live on Tuesdays, the two shows' viewership numbers look like this:



The numbers move in tandem, with what looks like four outliers. And they are all easily explained:

1) The first outlier is November 14/15, 2016, where SD's numbers come a little closer to Raw's than you'd think. That's because it was SD 900, obviously a special event.
2) The huge spike for Raw on January 22, 2018, with no corresponding spike for SD. That's because it was the Raw 25th anniversary show, obviously a special event.
3) October 15/16 of last year, when Smackdown actually beat Raw for the week. That's because it was SD 1000, obviously a special event.
4) December 24/25 of last year, when Smackdown beat Raw again. Which really just tells us that apparently people are more likely to watch on Christmas Night than on Christmas Eve.

[Starshine]

Apr 3, 2019 18:45:06 GMT -5 @rebelliousworkhorse said:

Honest question: Why don't the folks who blame Corbin, Mcintyre etc. for low ratings do the same for Kofi and Bryan?

I personally think it's inaccurate to place a lot of blame on the talent for bad ratings, but hey, fair is fair.

I'd say it's because when people like a product, instead of blaming the product as a whole for it's failings, it's easier to point fingers elsewhere and convince yourself that the problem is one specific thing. It actually works better for WWE that way, and is in part why I think they're fine pushing guys who draw negative reactions. Because the worst thing a fan can convince themselves of is that the problem is with the product itself. In that scenario you can't convince yourself that things will improve once 'x' is removed, you now see the problem is encompassing the product as a whole. Once you reach that mindset, it's hard to really ever build faith in that product again.

Then even if you like the product, and it's still failing in specific areas. It's harder to cast blame on something you like when doing so is also trying to convince that your opinion is also wrong about it. People by and large want to be validated when they read news, not question themselves about it.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Apr 3, 2019 19:16:43 GMT -5 @akeemresurrection said:

Apr 3, 2019 19:14:02 GMT -5 @dax said:

This isn't a post bashing the whole product because I enjoy most of it, but today's WWE could have Steve Austin in his prime and still be lucky to get in the 3 range.

Probably. Now I’m just sitting here wondering how they would f*** up prime Stone Cold. They’d find a way!

The WWE could have 98 Austin, 2000 Rock, and 80s Hogan, and the company would still find a way to f*** it all up.

WWE's need an overhaul in how they do things. Booking, writing, and presentation has to be redone.

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2019 19:12:15 GMT -5 @rebelliousworkhorse said:

Apr 3, 2019 18:48:38 GMT -5 @kn said:

Kofi and Bryan didn't take up multiple segments this week like prior weeks. They had one. Corbin and McIntyre have had multiple weeks where they've had multiple segments. When we've had shows dedicated to Bryan and Kofi they've generally done well. Can't say that about those other 2 bums.

Fair is fair so take that into account.

Smackdown's numbers have been pretty bad overall with Bryan as champion, but he doesn't get blamed for it - and he shouldn't. We tend to acknowledge the boatload of systemic reasons for the poor numbers when looking at Smackdown rather than going "See? Nobody cares about Daniel Bryan", and I think we should do the same for Raw instead of scapegoating certain performers.

It's a different story when they promote an entire show around a superstar. Honesty the only time people do that with Raw is when said superstar is the focus of the show, the show is bad and people are joking. I don't know anyone who seriously thinks Raw is bad due to a few superstars. On that same token if SDL is good to people based on a few superstars given how bad the landscape currently is then the loved superstars get props.

We know that Corbin and McIntyre aren't the cause of the ratings, those are jokes. At the same time are they the cause of some people turning the channel at times when they see them? They can be.

[prichardmark]

WM season and they are getting 2.0 numbers. Imagine after its over.  Shits gonna drop to the 1.0s  They have lost over a MILLION viewers in the last year and a half or so. They got a lot of problems and I don't see them capable of fixing it. (At least no one running the company currently).  Vince is too damn old at this point to turn it around and has been out of touch for 2 decade.  Trips won't get Vince out of there. Stephanie is useless as usual.    These networks that are shelling out millions to them will be getting and pissed sooner or later and I don't be surprised if eventually they find a way out if these ratings keep dropping and their stock will eventually take a HUGE hit. 

Haven't watched Smackdown in a long time.  I watched repeat of Raw today and it was absolutely horrid.    They're lucky to even still have 2 million viewers watching it

[cabbageboy]

SD is typically a more enjoyable show than Raw. There's a reason Raw has won worst show in the Observer for a few years now and mostly has since the 3 hour days. I can see why SD's rating was a little down this week though. There was nothing to hype. Kofi got the title shot last week, so this was a filler episode.

[Deleted]

Honestly I think it dropped for a mix of three reasons.

1. Raw being completely uninspired. Probably the big one, SmackDown tends to reflect Raw a lot.
2. The Kofi arc led to him getting the shot last week, so this week was just filler.
3. The Asuka / Charlotte thing. Not that I necessarily think people are en masse pissed off about it, but it did effectively go, "Yeah, SmackDown's secondary main title isn't doing anything of consequence at Mania this year, no reason to tune in to see what we do with it." Combine it with the Kofi thing and this was a show that basically had nothing left to accomplish.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

You mean that 18 person tag match did nothing for the ratings? What's their next effort?

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2019 20:46:28 GMT -5 @kn said:

Apr 3, 2019 19:12:15 GMT -5 @rebelliousworkhorse said:

Smackdown's numbers have been pretty bad overall with Bryan as champion, but he doesn't get blamed for it - and he shouldn't. We tend to acknowledge the boatload of systemic reasons for the poor numbers when looking at Smackdown rather than going "See? Nobody cares about Daniel Bryan", and I think we should do the same for Raw instead of scapegoating certain performers.

It's a different story when they promote an entire show around a superstar. Honesty the only time people do that with Raw is when said superstar is the focus of the show, the show is bad and people are joking. I don't know anyone who seriously thinks Raw is bad due to a few superstars. On that same token if SDL is good to people based on a few superstars given how bad the landscape currently is then the loved superstars get props.

We know that Corbin and McIntyre aren't the cause of the ratings, those are jokes. At the same time are they the cause of some people turning the channel at times when they see them? They can be.

Fair enough. It doesn't *always* seem like joking, but it's possible I'm misreading.

[Deleted]

People knew nothing important was going to happen.

I should watch Raw/Smackdown and by the end of it think "Wow I can't wait for next weeks show!". The product is stale, tired and needs a overhaul.

[111111]

Apr 3, 2019 20:04:42 GMT -5 Friday Night SmackOwn said:

A side-effect of John Oliver lambasting the company’s shitty business practices just a few days before?

If anything that would probably increase viewership as you'd have the morbidly curious and lapsed fans who got reminded wrestling exists by John.

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2019 18:45:06 GMT -5 @rebelliousworkhorse said:

Honest question: Why don't the folks who blame Corbin, Mcintyre etc. for low ratings do the same for Kofi and Bryan?

I personally think it's inaccurate to place a lot of blame on the talent for bad ratings, but hey, fair is fair.

Someone here mentioned the women possibly hurting ratings and posters were offended at it. So yes I agree with you that there’s an inconsistency on blame.

I also agree that the talent (any of them) is not to blame. Wrestling has its core fans and typically any variation in ratings, good or bad, seems coincidental nowadays. The company has made sure they are the draw so they should get the blame for the decline.

[darbus alan]

Smackdown has always been treated as the B Show and it gets B Show ratings because of it. I think I can count the number of times Smackdown's actually outperformed Raw in ratings on one hand since the show's been on basic cable. Smackdown's almost been consistently the better show, quality-wise, for years now but the ratings are always lower than Raw's because Raw is still WWE's flagship show. Wrestling fans have also been conditioned to think of Monday nights as wrestling nights for well over 25 years.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

FOX is so screwed, lmfao