ayumidah
Wade Wilson
The ace-iest bi you'll ever meet
Posts: 26,631
Member is Online
|
Post by ayumidah on Jul 14, 2020 16:38:06 GMT -5
Damn I flinched.
|
|
thehottag
Don Corleone
We're here for one reason only: fame, fortune, & the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions!
Posts: 1,668
|
Post by thehottag on Jul 14, 2020 17:09:04 GMT -5
Ratings across the board are down (except for the news), so it'll be easy to spin this as a general issue with TV, not WWE.
But the truely worrying thing isn't the ratings falling week to week, but rather that they've been falling for years & years & years. The Raw on January 6th 2014 drew 4.5 million viewers. 6 years is a long time I know, but it's not like that audience upped & died en mass. Fact is, the shows mostly looked the same then as they do now - same stars (Roman, Seth, Brock) same sets, same announcers, same part timers stealing all the main events at the big PPVs. It's not like a drastic change has made everyone flee.
And THAT, ironically, is where the problem lies. WWE feels the same week after week, month after month, year after year. Characters don't change or progress - even a heel/face turn doesn't change their mannerisms, outfits or theme music. Everything is so scripted that their TV feels stale as year-old bread (ironic for a show called 'Raw'). The audience wasn't driven away by overpushing Roman, or Corbin, or any other character. They were eroded away by the same-old, same-old.
WWE has made the brand the star, & the brand is as cold as ice. Add to the fact Triple H used to come out & actively tell the crowd "Don't like it? Stop watching then!" (Wonder if anyone ever brings this up with him when the ratings come in?)
|
|
|
Post by 3cheers4ramirez on Jul 14, 2020 17:16:31 GMT -5
I look forward to Prichard's the-demo-is-the-only-thing-that-matters speech on the next STWW.
|
|
|
Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Jul 14, 2020 17:22:15 GMT -5
I figured this was going to happen this week, but just imagine what these numbers are going to look like if MNF actually comes back in Sept. But hey, just keep putting Bayley and Sasha all over TV, 3 days a week. Great plan. 1.5 million viewers in the 3rd hour. Serious question: Who is this show supposed to appeal to? As in what demographics are they targeting? Don't just say Vince because I don't think Vince alone would put out the sort of product that WWE has been doing for the past few years. Given the way that everyone comes out of WWE says Vince is writing for his amusement above any others, what's the basis here?
|
|
Perd
Patti Mayonnaise
Leslie needs to butt out for fear of receiving The Bunghole Buster
Posts: 31,945
|
Post by Perd on Jul 14, 2020 17:30:43 GMT -5
The truth is, until this hits Vince in the pocketbook, nothing’s going to change. Yeah, ratings continue to drop, but they’re still making money. Until that changes, Vince will continue to run the ship however he sees fit.
|
|
|
Post by eJm on Jul 14, 2020 17:40:37 GMT -5
I figured this was going to happen this week, but just imagine what these numbers are going to look like if MNF actually comes back in Sept. But hey, just keep putting Bayley and Sasha all over TV, 3 days a week. Great plan. 1.5 million viewers in the 3rd hour. Serious question: Who is this show supposed to appeal to? As in what demographics are they targeting? Don't just say Vince because I don't think Vince alone would put out the sort of product that WWE has been doing for the past few years. Given the way that everyone comes out of WWE says Vince is writing for his amusement above any others, what's the basis here? Also even if it's not all on Vince, he still approves all of it so I don't know how else it can be anything else but that.
|
|
Kalmia
King Koopa
Happy to be here
Posts: 11,642
Member is Online
|
Post by Kalmia on Jul 14, 2020 17:41:40 GMT -5
I'm waiting for the week where NXT and AEW outdraw RAW (added together, obviously!) and there's a chance of it this week. They deserve to outdraw it.
|
|
|
Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Jul 14, 2020 17:42:02 GMT -5
I figured this was going to happen this week, but just imagine what these numbers are going to look like if MNF actually comes back in Sept. But hey, just keep putting Bayley and Sasha all over TV, 3 days a week. Great plan. 1.5 million viewers in the 3rd hour. Serious question: Who is this show supposed to appeal to? As in what demographics are they targeting? Don't just say Vince because I don't think Vince alone would put out the sort of product that WWE has been doing for the past few years. Given the way that everyone comes out of WWE says Vince is writing for his amusement above any others, what's the basis here? How can this be amusing to anybody? I dumped the network this week, the same network I’ve had from day one. I thought I’d just keep it out of routine and for generally free PPVs. But I just don’t care any more. I watched five minutes of RAW and never went back. Rey Mysterious was cutting an awful promo about taking out Seth Rollins eye for some reason. I’m sure it has a brilliant storyline behind it but I can’t be compelled to look it up. And I don’t think I’m alone
|
|
XIII
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 18,388
Member is Online
|
Post by XIII on Jul 14, 2020 17:45:21 GMT -5
I tapped a month or so ago. Excellent choice. WWE has managed to take one of the most talented rosters ever assembled and book it into apathy. That’s actually kind of impressive.
|
|
Welfare Willis
Crow T. Robot
Pornomancer 555-BONE FDIC Bonsured
Game Center CX Kacho on!
Posts: 44,259
|
Post by Welfare Willis on Jul 14, 2020 18:08:53 GMT -5
Tuned in, saw MVP and Dolph, immediately tuned out and went to do something else. Yeah, not placing the blame all on Dolph, but it's 2020 and they're using Dolph and the Big Show. Come on WWE.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 18:08:56 GMT -5
Raw goes head to head twice with nationally televised resumed regular season NBA games (8/3 and 8/10) before the playoffs begin, and they'll go head to head with MLB's regular season (FS1) 5 times in 10 weeks. Then there's Monday Night Football starting in mid September. Really curious to see what happens to the ratings (DEMO'S) when all the sports are going on at the same time. Raw's fanbase is more loyal than a puppy, but that loyalty might be tested if these sports leagues can actually begin and conclude their seasons (too early to say).
|
|
|
Post by evilone on Jul 14, 2020 18:37:06 GMT -5
Hell man, that's no good for wrestling at all. This is what you get when there is no competition, I'm surprised they pulled off that long without significant ratings drop giving how '00s was utterly pathetic already without WCW. Wrestling fans are patient believers I guess. Good thing is WWE needs just another pipe bomb and viewers will come back asap.
On a side note, I was watching some 2000 WCW clips and my God was that audience on fire all the time. Run-ins keep on happening every single match, matches getting ruined because of it but crowd is popping like there is no tomorrow.
|
|
fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
Posts: 38,913
Member is Online
|
Post by fw91 on Jul 14, 2020 18:38:56 GMT -5
Not good. I mean it wasn’t an exciting show at all. But what were the demos?
|
|
fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
Posts: 38,913
Member is Online
|
Post by fw91 on Jul 14, 2020 18:41:21 GMT -5
Ratings across the board are down (except for the news), so it'll be easy to spin this as a general issue with TV, not WWE. But the truely worrying thing isn't the ratings falling week to week, but rather that they've been falling for years & years & years. The Raw on January 6th 2014 drew 4.5 million viewers. 6 years is a long time I know, but it's not like that audience upped & died en mass. Fact is, the shows mostly looked the same then as they do now - same stars (Roman, Seth, Brock) same sets, same announcers, same part timers stealing all the main events at the big PPVs. It's not like a drastic change has made everyone flee. And THAT, ironically, is where the problem lies. WWE feels the same week after week, month after month, year after year. Characters don't change or progress - even a heel/face turn doesn't change their mannerisms, outfits or theme music. Everything is so scripted that their TV feels stale as year-old bread (ironic for a show called 'Raw'). The audience wasn't driven away by overpushing Roman, or Corbin, or any other character. They were eroded away by the same-old, same-old. WWE has made the brand the star, & the brand is as cold as ice. Add to the fact Triple H used to come out & actively tell the crowd "Don't like it? Stop watching then!" (Wonder if anyone ever brings this up with him when the ratings come in?) I think it’s an industry thing. AEW and NXT aren’t setting the world on fire either despite acclaim from the fanbase. A) Wrestling isn’t cool anymore B) Other methods of tv viewing/streaming are killing cable/Traditional viewing.
|
|
|
Post by RadcapRadsley on Jul 14, 2020 18:44:50 GMT -5
Can see these ratings continue to drop like a stone as long as they keep Liv Morgan off tv.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 18:47:14 GMT -5
NXT caters to a very specific portion of the fanbase and they deliver for them.
Main roster is a mismash of just....things and it kind of goes back to the whole talk of a show catering to one extreme over the other or trying to please both by sitting in the middle.
|
|
|
Post by bearned on Jul 14, 2020 19:36:56 GMT -5
The problem is there is only so much they can do with basically no live crowd to feed off - the performance centre employees have improved it but the novelty has gone. AEW has been slightly better at handling that but even that’s run out of steam.
Until the crowds return wrestling on TV is going to really struggle for any TV audience outside of the rusted on fanbase. Who knows if the casual fan will tune in again....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 20:42:26 GMT -5
The Unwatched Show at Monday Night Raw.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 21:56:34 GMT -5
At this point there have legit been TNA shows that got a higher rating than Raw.
|
|
|
Post by polarbearpete on Jul 14, 2020 22:01:46 GMT -5
Both RAW and Smackdown just feel like abysmal viewing at this point, and people simply are tuning out more and more. Bianca and Shayna didn't even pop a rating coming back because they ran Shayna into the ground and haven't done shit with Bianca for you to care. Doesn't shock me multiple R-Truth segments and The Big Show still being a main fixture on shows isn't exactly lighting the world on fire for ratings purposes. Losing half a million viewers since the pandemic started is bad no matter how you slice it. NXT and AEW have been able to keep steady viewership for the most part and increase their viewers and demo lately, RAW and Smackdown just have no excuse. Not sure what unannounced returns of Shayna and Bianca (two people who made their name on a lower-rates NXT show) have to do with popping a rating.
|
|