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Post by Denny Zen is Cooking™ on Jul 22, 2022 13:52:15 GMT -5
"Decline in quality and overall viewership" is such a subjective thing, and I'm not sure that I agree with either. Depending on how "quality" is defined, I either would argue that AEW's storylines are currently in a bit of a lull, but are overall compelling, or that the in-ring product is just as good, if not better, than ever. As far as overall viewership, what's the definition of decline? AEW seems to have been growing by every conceivable objective metric in its existence. The same week 2 years ago (July 22, 2020), AEW was 5th on cable with 845k total viewers and a .32 demo. Sure, there are some ebbs and flows, but Dynamite has established itself as a consistent #1 on cable on Wednesday nights, and its viewership "floor" seems to have risen. I grant that AEW doesn't always reach its "ceiling," on a week-to-week basis, but fluctuations in viewership from week-to-week aren't indicative of a "decline in overall viewership." I don't mean to handwave criticisms of the AEW product - I have quite a few of them myself, not the least of which being stuff like randomly featuring Cole Karter in a prominent TV spot like a month after he failed a drug test, instead of letting someone like Sonny Kiss have some shine - but I really don't think I agree that there should be a "concern" with "decline in quality and overall viewership" right now, personally. They’re doing worse ratings than they did a year ago. If you watched the most recent episode, people weren’t very happy and haven’t been happy with AEW for a bit now. Call it coming off the honeymoon or whatever you want, but that suggests a decline in quality and viewership. They had Punk and Daniel Bryan coming in and a year later are struggling to keep interest over a million viewers (a mark they’ve shown they can hit). Injuries plays a part, but everyone deals with that. AEW’s bloated roster isn’t getting the job done because there’s only a few guys actually bringing interest whether it’s Punk, Bryan, or MJF. All guys are hurt and MJF is dissatisfied. Now, we’re seeing a long feud between Jericho and Kingston. A women's division floundering. No one is even talking about Hangman anymore. What are they going to do when Punk and Bryan eventually retire or step away? Their best young player (MJF) might be heading to WWE and none of the rest of the guys have shown they can be potential stars in my opinion. AEW is going to look like Impact five years from now. I don't want to denigrate anyone's opinion or argue, by any means, but: "If you watched the most recent episode, people weren’t very happy and haven’t been happy with AEW for a bit now" I don't really think this is true. For every consensus misstep like Barbed Wire Everywhere and the Hardyz/Butcher and Blade ladder match, you have several universally praised TV matches, like Ospreay/Dax, Blood & Guts, or Swerve and Lee's Tag Title win just last week. People having individual critiques of certain matches and storylines really isn't indicative of people not having "been happy with AEW for a bit now." Even on the most recent episode, the ratings thread suggests that people enjoyed 75% of the show (most particularly Darby/King) and were annoyed with how the main event was booked. I didn't see a lot of "AEW, as a whole, sucks now" talk. "AEW is going to look like Impact five years from now." This is a wild slippery slope. You can't compare 2022 AEW to, like, 2009 TNA because TV ratings mean something different then than they do now, but TNA would have killed to be doing what AEW is doing right at this very moment even at its absolute apex. As far as current Impact? Unless AEW loses something like 60% of its median weekly viewership from the moment of its inception, it's not going to be anywhere close to having to slum it on PopTV or something. Half of the reason AEW has proven so abnormally successful for an upstart professional wrestling program is that its viewership floor has always been remarkably high. Not gonna sit here and say that I have a crystal ball, and, sure AEW may well be out of business in 2027, because who knows what might happen in five years. But if you wanted to bet $50 right now on whether AEW will still be thriving on Turner Networks in 2027 (probably for twice the money of the current deal), or whether it will have gone the way of Impact, I would certainly take the bet on the former.
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Post by Cyno on Jul 22, 2022 13:59:43 GMT -5
If AEW is going to look like Impact 5 years from now, then at least that means a solidly booked women's division. Impact can be a bit repetitive at times in terms of TV matches but it's a really fun product.
Now if you tell me AEW is going to be more like WWE in five years, that's what would make me concerned.
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Post by attitudeeraguy22 on Jul 22, 2022 14:02:18 GMT -5
If AEW is going to look like Impact 5 years from now, then at least that means a solidly booked women's division. Impact can be a bit repetitive at times in terms of TV matches but it's a really fun product. Now if you tell me AEW is going to be more like WWE in five years, that's what would make me concerned. WWE is the most successful wrestling promotion running and wildly popular. Why would AEW not want that? This is delusion
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Post by Cyno on Jul 22, 2022 14:05:14 GMT -5
WWE's product bored the hell out of me even if I didn't find its business practices and Vince McMahon morally repugnant. Obviously, AEW having their success is only a positive. But if that means the product becoming more like them? I'm good.
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 22, 2022 14:06:37 GMT -5
Shocker that the user named "ATTITUDEERAGUY" derails another f***ing AEW Ratings Thread with concern trolling. Like it's self parody at this point tbh.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jul 22, 2022 14:19:29 GMT -5
I think Tony has some areas where he can improve as a booker. But I think it says a lot that folks still by and large enjoy the weekly show here even during this "down period" according to some folks. I think the show largely delivers on in ring action each week and has compelling stuff week to week to keep you intrigued. I think the larger issue right now is the lack of overarching larger stories. For the past few years, there has been the overarching Elite/Page storyline, there's been the MJF/Wardlow/Punk saga, we had the Inner Circle/Pinnacle Feud, we're just now essentially ending the BCC/JAS feud (or at least it's about to end). I think a lot of the injuries have thrown some of these plans out of whack (and the situation with MJF). Right now it's all a question of how much Tony feels comfortable giving away or committing to right now until those big guns come back. For example, he could book a Moxley/Wardlow match for both belts. Same for Rosa/Jade. He could book a winner take all tag match with FTR and Keith/Swerve. He could book Sting vs. Hangman Page. He could do a bunch of crazy stuff. But it may not be the best idea even with the short term bump. It's a tricky balance and I think Tony is largely steering the ship correctly albeit imperfectly.
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 22, 2022 14:23:54 GMT -5
I think Tony has some areas where he can improve as a booker. But I think it says a lot that folks still by and large enjoy the weekly show here even during this "down period" according to some folks. I think the show largely delivers on in ring action each week and has compelling stuff week to week to keep you intrigued. I think the larger issue right now is the lack of overarching larger stories. For the past few years, there has been the overarching Elite/Page storyline, there's been the MJF/Wardlow/Punk saga, we had the Inner Circle/Pinnacle Feud, we're just now essentially ending the BCC/JAS feud (or at least it's about to end). I think a lot of the injuries have thrown some of these plans out of whack (and the situation with MJF). Right now it's all a question of how much Tony feels comfortable giving away or committing to right now until those big guns come back. For example, he could book a Moxley/Wardlow match for both belts. Same for Rosa/Jade. He could book a winner take all tag match with FTR and Keith/Swerve. He could book Sting vs. Hangman Page. He could do a bunch of crazy stuff. But it may not be the best idea even with the short term bump. It's a tricky balance and I think Tony is largely steering the ship correctly albeit imperfectly. I think it says a lot that any time AEW slips up and has a bad moment, the threads go a dozen pages or more, and we suddenly see users pop up who have never posted here before "Concerned that AEW is dying" or talking about how certain wrestlers "Just aren't that good" or whatever AEW's gone through a rough patch and still continues to put on amazing shows, like the Barbed Wire Match was a dud, it can't all be perfect and the booking can't all be perfect, but like we're coming off Blood and Guts and Swerve in Our Glory winning the tag belts, matches that universally got praised and moments that both got well over One Million Viewers. People really take any chance they get when AEW trips up to unload on it, it's been a pretty distinct pattern tbh, and stuff they've done well, hell even including this week where they are still number one on cable for the fifth straight week, are ignored and the goalposts are kicked into space, and I find it pretty amusingly blatant.
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Post by Cyno on Jul 22, 2022 14:24:02 GMT -5
Is AEW 2022 as good as 2021? No, it isn't. But it's still a really fun wrestling product more often than not. And last week's Dynamite was one of the best I've ever seen. If anything, the flaws of this week's show only stand out more in comparison to how great last week was.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Jul 22, 2022 14:27:24 GMT -5
My general stance on AEW is that it's generally - not always, but generally - very watchable and has a good format that's easy to digest, but it often isn't interesting. It's pretty rare I go into something in AEW actively expecting it to be bad but there are a ton of times I go into something being like, "Yeah but why should I care about this?"
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 22, 2022 14:28:55 GMT -5
Is AEW 2022 as good as 2021? No, it isn't. But it's still a really fun wrestling product more often than not. And last week's Dynamite was one of the best I've ever seen. If anything, the flaws of this week's show only stand out more in comparison to how great last week was. AEW 2022's had some matches on par with if not better than AEW 2021 matches, it's just that y'know... a lot of the top guys are hurt right now Like it's a pretty loaded question to ask I feel when guys like Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, and CM Punk are hurt right now... but Punk and Danielson were putting on some of the best matches of the entire year before that. But AEW's number one in cable for five straight weeks without any of those guys and more... sooooo... they're doing pretty damn good and so is their roster in handling the potholes in the road. An overbooked Barbed Wire Match one week doesn't really change anything about that imo, nor should it.
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Jul 22, 2022 15:17:58 GMT -5
For the 100th time, P2+ viewership for Nielsen ratings is a pretty worthless statistic because people consume entertainment in different ways in 2022. Even Nielsen itself is aware of how obsolete it is because they're going to be rolling out a more accurate way of measuring statistics eventually. It's intersting to see how individual demographics perform in relation to one another in terms of stat nerd stuff. But as far as the networks and advertisers are concerned, the only number that really matters is 18-49. And this is as true about WWE as it is about AEW. Raw has lost over half of its total TV watching live audience over the last several years. They're still in the top spots Monday nights more often than not because they still do great in the demo. Looking at the individual demos, they're doing great with every one except 50+. And since AEW isn't marketing their programming towards that demographic, it's likely a big shrug for them. Also, it’s worth noting it’s summer. People watch less TV during summer. Haven’t TV ratings in general been down the past month or so? I watch AEW religiously, I’ve literally seen every Dynamite and PPV and all but 2 or 3 Rampages, but even I skip watching it live to play beer league softball during summer and then watch it On Demand after the fact and that doesn’t contribute to ratings.
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 22, 2022 15:18:57 GMT -5
All the talk about what AEW's future is going to look like, and then Vince McMahon retires from WWE today
WOOF lmfao
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Post by toodarkmark on Jul 22, 2022 16:27:45 GMT -5
I can't believe AEW finished #1 5 weeks in a row, and people still come in this thread who hate AEW and troll that success. I just don't get it. Last week it was the #4 show on all of cable for the week.
Hating a company so much you pretend being number 4 out 700 shows for a week is a bad thing?
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Post by markymark on Jul 22, 2022 16:50:12 GMT -5
All the talk about what AEW's future is going to look like, and then Vince McMahon retires from WWE today WOOF lmfao
Its going to be interesting if TK will start putting stronger cards now with Vince gone
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