Crossover Main Events - Pathetic or Smart?

[Tougie]

Would be surprised if this topic has already been created and if so I apologize. But anyway, past few weeks the main event of Impact has crossed over into Reaction. And I got to thinking about whether this is pathetic, or smart as the title suggests.

Why its Smart: You have 3 hours of television time why not go over 2 hours just because Impact ended. Plus, your bringing in views who will most likely stick around to see the main event then probably watch for the rest of the hour.

Why Its Pathetic: For the same reason its smart. Your bringing over the main event match that people stick around to see, just to get good first hour ratings for your subpar program.


Anyway, just a quick thought topic and felt like posting it now. I'll post more in a bit but the above pretty much sums it up. Thoughts?

 

[wrestlemaniac]

the way I see it, the regular show has to have promos and talking and blah blah blah. Why cut wrestling short just because the initial show time has ran out? I mean you have seperate show to continue the match so why not keep it going? The fans might stick around if wrestling matches are continued on the show

 

[TNAtion4Life]

I think it's a great idea because I used to always get frustrated when the entire show of either Impact or WWE they were advertising a certain main event for the show and the second to last match or segment ends with only 5 or 10 min left in the show. It forces you to already know when the match is going to end so it kills the main event in my opinion. I like how the main event spills over into Reaction because I don't worry about the time constraint killing the main event.

 

[waylon p]

the only problem i have with this whole thing is that there's really no need for reaction as a discreet show in the first place. why not just schedule impact for three hours, and just scatter all the reaction stuff throughout?

but we all know why. there isn't enough wrestling on impact to justify two hours, much less three. the end product would scarcely classify as professional wrestling.

perhaps add one more match and two minutes to each match, and make reaction a long segment as a wrap up. then you can put the impact player segment and perhaps the interview segments from after last week's main event, or other features periodically throughout a three hour impact (isn't that where "impact player" belongs, anyway?)
but as long as they intend to use this format, i have no objections to impact going overtime into reaction. in fact, i encourage it. at last, wrestling tv has what it ALWAYS wanted....the ability to go into overtime without getting cut off, or even ruining another show's start time. if vince had thought of it during the monday night wars, it would have ended them much more quickly.

 

[jccool420]

I like the overflow too... I like the idea of having three hours of Impact and mixing the ReAction segments in...

Maybe this is a way to test rather or not people would sit through 3 hours of TNA...

I would like to see more matches on Impact, especially X Division matches... That is really my only complaint abut TNA...

Either way, I like the three hour block and wouldn't mind seeing an extra match on ReAction... Even if they just picked one random match a week for the show...

 

[King Blitzkonic]

I'll call the idea smart IF and ONLY IF it wasn't overused like WWE's done with their "10 minute overflow" time with USA. Iono about you, but if there's a show I REALLY want to see right after Impact, then screw the main event I'm gonna watch the other show. Same goes for Raw. Once in a while is fine with me, past that goes into the "pathetic" realm.

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

I think it's smart because normally the main event is the best match and draws fans in and if it overflows into a different TNA show then people will tune into the show which gets higher ratings. I just think that TNA might do it too much though because when TNA gets a good idea they will overuse it until it gets boring and that's not good it needs to stay fresh and not stale.

 

[Kitten Cutter]

I'm going to the other side, and while I won't say it's pathetic, I personally don't like it. I see what you mean by WWE's main events telegraphing their main event lengths, but that's always going to happen. I learned to set my DVR to go past 11:00 pm about 10 minutes in to catch the endings when I have to work. I have a friend who I told to check out TNA, and he watched Before the Glory and was majorly pissed that he couldn't see the ending of the Battle Royale. (he had go online to see the winner, and I won't even tell you what he thought... )

ReAction just isn't my type of show. I tried watching the first few episodes and I wasn't pulled it at all. I can watch Impact but ReAction just isn't fun to watch. I've only been watching for over a year, and it stinks that I now may have to basically watch a documentary every week. It's unique and novel and I won't knock TNA for trying different things, but ReAction should be more of a fun option than required viewing. Give us a reason to stay and watch ReAction, instead of baiting us hoping we'll stick around.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Gets you all to watch ReAction, doesn't it? Even if it's just ten minutes of it? Then how can it be bad? It's called flow. They can promote their second show well by having the main event spill over into it, which also allows them to potentially hook you because the new program has already "begun" while you are concluding the finish. If it were cut and dry with beginning/end, beginning/end, you might not be as inclined to leave the program on.

So to answer the OP: Smart.

 

[Flawless-Talk]

As somebody from the UK, I think the crossover main events are ridiculous. I don't watch iMPACT! live, but On Demand, as it's on a Saturday and I'm either out or watching something else, so to know the ending for a match without resorting to spoiler is impossible. Reaction also doesn't air here, as far as I know, so I would not be able to see the ending anyway.

For places like America, where Reaction does air, I suppose it's fine, but considering TNA doesn't have a deal here for the show to air, it's not a smart business decision. Casual fans watching the show are going to be completely and utterly confused if the match just cuts off and doesn't resume, as am I.

TNA is putting too much faith into a show that doesn't air in every country and it's a mistake, in my opinion. If I wanted to watch Reaction (if it was on), I would. I don't need a 'cliffhanger' match ending to do so. I was so pissed off that I didn't get to watch the ending to the battle royal last week and I'll be pissed off this week if it happens again.

 

[Defekt]

I think it's a smart idea.

I'll admit, I only recently started watching TNA again, after a four year absence, but Reaction is supplementary to Impact!, so obviously it's not gonna pull as high of ratings. Starting Reaction with the conclusion of Impact!'s main event is an easy way to guarantee the fans will at least watch the beginning, and then there's a chance they'll stick around for the rest.

Additionally, people who DVR Impact! will also DVR Reaction, not wanting to risk missing the main event.

I prefer this schedule instead of a three hour Impact!. Two hours seems to be the sweet spot.

Trimming the fat on Impact! and offering two concise hours of storylines and wrestling, supplemented with interviews and backstage segments in the after show is the best solution IMO.

 

[marker]

I like this idea. Stretching main event into reaction allows for making it longer, prolonging earlier matches or extending storylines. In addition, the transition between Impact and reaction is smoother.

But I agree with the previous poster that this is not the best solution if you cannot watch reaction straight after impact.

 

[TheTheDude]

Its sort of like how Nitro used to spill over into Thunder In Paradise.

Im not a big fan of the overrun. Im not a big fan of Raw's overrun either, but then again, by the time the Main Event on Raw rolls around, ive already lost interest.

To me, the overrun into Reaction just says either: 1. We cannot script a show that fits within its timeslot or B. We cannot fill up an extra hour with backstage and interview segments so lets kill ten minutes with wrestling that should have been shown on impact.