WWE and Ratings

[joejoe]

Well another threat was started about the Raw rating but this is about the WWE as a whole.

Look the ratings are not as good as they were during the "Attitude" era and they aren't high across the board on all of their shows. Since the 3.0 came out for RAW it seems a lot more people are starting to predict the downfall of WWE.

Saying how they are losing money and the giving $1million away is a desperate attempt for ratings and how it failed miserably and the WWE is failing.

Guess what? The WWE isn't failing. The WWE is still one of the top watched shows on ALLLL of cable TV in the US. That is pretty impressive when you consider it has been on cable TV for a few decades now.

In addition the WWE doesn't make their money from ratings. They make their money from ticket sales, (Which have been fine), PPV buys (Also fine), Merchandise (From what I've read doing great), and DVD sales. (They are always the number 1 selling sports DVD every week.

Eric Bischoff was on VOW a couple weeks ago and expressed how upset he gets at the internet fans because they love to talk about the ratings but not a single one of them could tell you how they are calculated, and what exactly the difference between a 2.9 and 3.0 is.

The ratings aren't everything. While they do reflect a sample of how many people actually watch your program each week they do not give you a true estimate.

The WWE isn't losing money, in fact they are making money hand over fist if you pay attention to the market.

Ratings are down now because they are in a transition mode. New starts are starting to be built and eventually ratings will go back up. (Kennedy, MVP, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase Jr,)

The WWE wasn't drawing huge ratings numbers back in the late 80s/early 90s but they were making money. And that was it is about.

Sad as it is the WWE doesn't really care if the fans love the product. As long as they are making money off the product there is no reason for drastic changes.

So all of those who are predicting the WWE's demise...just shut up.

[Mr-excitement]

You make some REALLY good points, but when ratings drop revenue does drops. The WWE had trouble making payroll according to Jim Ross during WCW's dominance of the Monday Night Wars.

Consider, everything springboards from TV, if people are not watching the shows, they wont know about the PPVs and if they dont order the PPVs or attend the live shows they lose merchanside dollars, ticket sales and PPV orders.

Trust me at Titan Towers, Vince and company are not sitting back and saying the ratings mean nothing and he and Eric were obsessed with them. Why do you think Eric tried to convince people to change the channel.

Ratings are a KEY revenue driver for the USA network and the WWE. Being number one is good, but a 4.0 allows a station to charge more for advertising than a 2.5.

[Papa Shango]

The ratings are very important. USA makes money off of advertising on RAW. The more people who tune in to RAW, the more advertisers will pay to appear on the show. Which means USA will promte RAW more, and it all goes around in a cycle. But in order to get people to tune in and stay tuned in, WWE needs interesting product, which it doesn't. WWE needs to have engaging shows in order to keep the ratings up. The ratings ARE important, that's what the Monday Night Wars were all about. It doesn't matter that RAW is one of the highest rated cable shows, ratings are still down. Desperate Housewives and Lost are two of the highest rated shows on TV, but the ratings are still slumping, and they are trying anything and everything to change that, by trying to introduce new characters and plot devices. WWE should try the same thing.

[joejoe]

Originally Posted by Mr-excitement

You make some REALLY good points, but when ratings drop revenue does drops. The WWE had trouble making payroll according to Jim Ross during WCW's dominance of the Monday Night Wars.

Consider, everything springboards from TV, if people are not watching the shows, they wont know about the PPVs and if they dont order the PPVs or attend the live shows they lose merchanside dollars, ticket sales and PPV orders.

Trust me at Titan Towers, Vince and company are not sitting back and saying the ratings mean nothing and he and Eric were obsessed with them. Why do you think Eric tried to convince people to change the channel.

Ratings are a KEY revenue driver for the USA network and the WWE. Being number one is good, but a 4.0 allows a station to charge more for advertising than a 2.5.

You are correct somewhat but the difference is back when WCW was dominating WWE, they were losing money. Now the WWE isn't losing money.

Ratings are lower but they aren't losing money. If you notice WWE does a LOT of promoting for merchandise. They are always coming out with new t shirts and toys for people to buy.

If you ever go to a live event just stand at the merch table for 20 min and listen to how much people are spending. It is INSANE that money goes right into WWE's pocket. And that doesn't even include the stuff they sell off their website.

I'm sure Vince would want the ratings to be higher so he could spout off another acomplishment but in the big picture a 3.0 and 3.5 aren't going to hurt the WWE a ton.

Again a 3.0 doesn't mean that ONLY those people watch the show. Also keep in mind the DVR and Tivo factor.

A LOT of people record and watch the show later on. Some may say that wont effect it a ton but it does. I know for a fact I record Raw and many other people I know do as well.

[joejoe]

Originally Posted by Papa Shango

The ratings are very important. USA makes money off of advertising on RAW. The more people who tune in to RAW, the more advertisers will pay to appear on the show. Which means USA will promte RAW more, and it all goes around in a cycle. But in order to get people to tune in and stay tuned in, WWE needs interesting product, which it doesn't. WWE needs to have engaging shows in order to keep the ratings up. The ratings ARE important, that's what the Monday Night Wars were all about. It doesn't matter that RAW is one of the highest rated cable shows, ratings are still down. Desperate Housewives and Lost are two of the highest rated shows on TV, but the ratings are still slumping, and they are trying anything and everything to change that, by trying to introduce new characters and plot devices. WWE should try the same thing.

The WWE isn't making as much money as it used to but it is still making money.

As long as a company is always turning a profit the company is successful.

We may not love the WWE product as much as we used to but we are still watching the programs as many other people still are.

[Mr-excitement]

Originally Posted by joejoe

You are correct somewhat but the difference is back when WCW was dominating WWE, they were losing money. Now the WWE isn't losing money.

Ratings are lower but they aren't losing money. If you notice WWE does a LOT of promoting for merchandise. They are always coming out with new t shirts and toys for people to buy.

If you ever go to a live event just stand at the merch table for 20 min and listen to how much people are spending. It is INSANE that money goes right into WWE's pocket. And that doesn't even include the stuff they sell off their website.

I'm sure Vince would want the ratings to be higher so he could spout off another acomplishment but in the big picture a 3.0 and 3.5 aren't going to hurt the WWE a ton.

Again a 3.0 doesn't mean that ONLY those people watch the show. Also keep in mind the DVR and Tivo factor.

A LOT of people record and watch the show later on. Some may say that wont effect it a ton but it does. I know for a fact I record Raw and many other people I know do as well.

if the Tv ratings continue to drop then attendance and PPV buyrates will follow and it will eventually effect revenue. It is not just show driven either, in a bad economy with gas hovering above 4 bucks and it is almost 5 where I live, many people cut their entertainment budget.

I know people who have already said they can't afford any more PPVs and these people like me only get three to four a year. They definitely wont gas up the car and drive down to a show and buy food and merchandise.

If you think this 3.0 is just a small cyclical dip it is not. The WWE left one network in hopes of reaching more people, it spiked for a bit. The WWE used Mayweather in hopes of mainstream press and attracting new fans. Now they are giving away money - come on the company is getting desparate.

They got the press from Mayweather and huge WM numbers, but the fans did not stick around.

Understand, American idol which gets WAY more viewers than the WWE are concerned over just a small dip in ratings also. They are talking about making major changes and that is the No. 1 on ALL of TV.

This is not cyclical, the WWE has grown stale just like WCW did with its constant shoving of the NWO down the audiences throat. Only now Cena is being shoved down the audiences throat and Triple H.

Old fans are growing up and some simply are not sticking with the product I suspect.

[Esteban Ochocinco]

How can the ratings not be important? Why would people track them if they weren't important.

The WWE has a virtual monopoly on Monday Nights at this point. The Networks are all in repeats during the summer time, and their ratings have dropped as well, there are no playoff or big games on Monday Nights. There is simply no excuse for the WWE to be drawing 3.0's at this point of the year, none whatsoever.

As stated, without ratings, USA can't sell advertisements for the higher price they are used to getting. USA is able then to negotiate with the WWE for a cheaper contract when the current deal runs up, and guess what, there won't be a ton of channels trying to negotiate because the WWE is proving itself not to be the draw it once was. The exact reason why the WWE left Spike in the first place was because they felt the ratings dipped because of moving to Spike from USA. They moved back, and two years later, they are averaging pre-Monday Night War numbers again.

This is a big problem for the WWE.

[joejoe]

Originally Posted by Mr-excitement

if the Tv ratings continue to drop then attendance and PPV buyrates will follow and it will eventually effect revenue. It is not just show driven either, in a bad economy with gas hovering above 4 bucks and it is almost 5 where I live, many people cut their entertainment budget.

I know people who have already said they can't afford any more PPVs and these people like me only get three to four a year. They definitely wont gas up the car and drive down to a show and buy food and merchandise.

If you think this 3.0 is just a small cyclical dip it is not. The WWE left one network in hopes of reaching more people, it spiked for a bit. The WWE used Mayweather in hopes of mainstream press and attracting new fans. Now they are giving away money - come on the company is getting desparate.

They got the press from Mayweather and huge WM numbers, but the fans did not stick around.

Understand, American idol which gets WAY more viewers than the WWE are concerned over just a small dip in ratings also. They are talking about making major changes and that is the No. 1 on ALL of TV.

This is not cyclical, the WWE has grown stale just like WCW did with its constant shoving of the NWO down the audiences throat. Only now Cena is being shoved down the audiences throat and Triple H.

Old fans are growing up and some simply are not sticking with the product I suspect.

You keep bringing up other shows but wrestling is different than other shows. Pro wrestling has fan loyalty.

All of the people who were around during the attitude era were casual fans. The hardcore wrestling fans are always going to watch the product.

We sit and write on fourms and bitch and moan but bottom line is the hardcore fans keep coming back. We always will. That is what these ratings are reflecting now the actual wrestling fan who will be with them no matter what.

All Vince is trying to do with these outside endevours is bring back the casual fan. It is working for short bursts and they are making money off those short burts.

Again look back at the WWE in the late 80s/early 90s. They weren't drawing huge numbers but they were making money.

I'm not saying ratings don't effect the company but this thread was started to remind people that the WWE is not in a huge economic downfall. They are making lots of money and will be in business for years and years to come.

[Mr-excitement]

Originally Posted by joejoe

You keep bringing up other shows but wrestling is different than other shows. Pro wrestling has fan loyalty.

All of the people who were around during the attitude era were casual fans. The hardcore wrestling fans are always going to watch the product.

This is speculation. Actually, an argument can be made that the hardcore fans left when the old school territories died. Every era claims it has the true fans. Not necessarily true. Lots of shows have fan loyalty, people grow up and move on and they keep their money in their pocket in a bad economy.

We sit and write on fourms and bitch and moan but bottom line is the hardcore fans keep coming back. We always will. That is what these ratings are reflecting now the actual wrestling fan who will be with them no matter what.

So the ratings say that Vince really ONLY has a 3.0 audience?? And who is WE?? Fans won't always come back. Trust me when something comes along they like better or is cooler, they move on.

All Vince is trying to do with these outside endevours is bring back the casual fan. It is working for short bursts and they are making money off those short burts.

Not true in every case, he is not making money from the Million Dollar Mania. I dont think Federline or Floyd really made him any money either and in the end neither will cousin Sal. Those moves show desperation.

Again look back at the WWE in the late 80s/early 90s. They weren't drawing huge numbers but they were making money.

I'm not saying ratings don't effect the company but this thread was started to remind people that the WWE is not in a huge economic downfall. They are making lots of money and will be in business for years and years to come.

In your initial post, you said ratings don't matter and actually if memory serves and it does according to the link below, Vince was doing amazing numbers with SNME at that time:

http://www.twnpnews.com/information/sat.html

[Saiquan]

Originally Posted by joejoe

You are correct somewhat but the difference is back when WCW was dominating WWE, they were losing money. Now the WWE isn't losing money.

Ratings are lower but they aren't losing money. If you notice WWE does a LOT of promoting for merchandise. They are always coming out with new t shirts and toys for people to buy.

If you ever go to a live event just stand at the merch table for 20 min and listen to how much people are spending. It is INSANE that money goes right into WWE's pocket. And that doesn't even include the stuff they sell off their website.

I'm sure Vince would want the ratings to be higher so he could spout off another acomplishment but in the big picture a 3.0 and 3.5 aren't going to hurt the WWE a ton.

Again a 3.0 doesn't mean that ONLY those people watch the show. Also keep in mind the DVR and Tivo factor.

A LOT of people record and watch the show later on. Some may say that wont effect it a ton but it does. I know for a fact I record Raw and many other people I know do as well.

Im with you 100% I'm 16 and i just got a car. It a 2007 ford edge. I would pay to order pay per views but with the way gas prices are it takes almost $60 dollars to fill up my car. So i don't order as many pay per views as i did when i was 14 and 15 because i just doon't have the money.

I have a DVR so i work from 2:45 pm till 10:45 pm. So i record raw. And watch on sunday when im off. But i tell my little brother to cut my TV on and leave on USA just to try and help ratings. And i know tons of m friends record just as much.

With the way the world is today most shows ratings will go down because you can record it and watch it later. And yes that hurts WWE a ton because then the company begans to look like a failure. So in my point of few if you took away the Tivo and DVR the ratings might reach 3.5 or 4.0 becuase then you will make time to watch.