Cutting To Commercial During Matches

[Raiden46]

For the longest time, WWE ran matches with commercial interruptions in between. Then at some point in the Attitude Era, that all went away and commercials only occurred during the time between matches. Now it's back to commercials between matches. Does anyone think this detracts from the show? Obviously if a commercial comes on mid-match, we all know it's not going to end anytime soon. It would be funny if a match actually did end during the break, hehehe.

Any thoughts?

 

[Verly]

I don't like it, I want to see full matches. However, between the matches you have promo's en backstage stuff so you have to make choices, either make te promo's shorter or cut the matches.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I absolutely hate it when they go to commercials in the middle of a match, especially during the main event, and both WWE and TNA are equally guilty of it. I understand the necessity of commercials during television programming, but as the OP stated, WWE went away from doing do for a while, and have since returned to doing so. If they were able to do it before, they should be able to avoid commercial interruptions now. It takes away from the momentum of a match, and diminishes it's importance.

 

[Uproar]

well with there being 1-2 (sometimes 3) promos between matches, as well as the matches themselves they only have so long to produce the adverts. the promos cut are what make the storyline nowadays, not much is found through chemistry in the ring too often. However because of the hefty roster they still continue to produce a fair few matches a night, where i remember with attitude era if a promo went on for X amount of time, you would lose a match which you would of had without the promo being there, because back then i saw more storylines being produced during a match then having to have people shout down a microphone to get something over.

I could be wrong, just my thoughts on this subject.

 

[1C3-M4N]

Basically the way WWE sees it most likely is they make money off of having commercials (FACT)

So if the way it works is when they have a match and say it gets interrupted by a commercial most viewers will be upset at this, where many of you are coming from. But when they do air commercials during a match it keeps the viewers tuned in to see the end of the match and the viewers watch the commercials which air during the match (which makes WWE more money)

If WWE aired full matches and had commercials in between matches/promos and such so they didn't interrupt the show, alot of viewers would tune out and change the channel during commercials more often. (which would make WWE lose money on people not watching the commercials)

So while it may be an inconvience for a lot of you when they interrupt the show with commercials, it's good for WWE cause that is how they make a lot of their money.

 

[Raiden46]

Basically the way WWE sees it most likely is they make money off of having commercials (FACT)

So if the way it works is when they have a match and say it gets interrupted by a commercial most viewers will be upset at this, where many of you are coming from. But when they do air commercials during a match it keeps the viewers tuned in to see the end of the match and the viewers watch the commercials which air during the match (which makes WWE more money)

If WWE aired full matches and had commercials in between matches/promos and such so they didn't interrupt the show, alot of viewers would tune out and change the channel during commercials more often. (which would make WWE lose money on people not watching the commercials)

So while it may be an inconvience for a lot of you when they interrupt the show with commercials, it's good for WWE cause that is how they make a lot of their money.

This just made me think of a possible answer as to why the commercials run when they do. Back in the Attitude Era when Raw was getting very high ratings, their viewership was so dedicated (and older) that perhaps it didn't matter too much since they knew those fans would always be back. Nowadays since the rating has been cut in half and the fanbase is much younger, WWE needs to find a way to hook viewers back into the show. This is a way they can do that for sure.

 

[BaconBits]

I understand why it's done the way it is, but I hate it. It destroys the continuity of a match for the viewer at home.

An easy solution would be to do what ABC does for Indycar races. They could go to a side by side screen while the commercials are running so you can still see what's going on in the race. This could easily transition to wrestling.

 

[aaronoafc]

I hate it, but I agree with some of the above I understand why it is done, when did they actually begin doing this?

 

[gwarren]

It makes the first half of matches completely irrelevant because you know nothing's going to happen until they hit that one big spot and Cole says "what a move... find out what happens next, live, as Raw continues". What's the point of the first half of the match then, if everyone knows when and how the ads are going to start?

 

[ryder123]

You can always tell when a commercial is coming too. The face superstar will have the upper hand at the start and knock the heel from the ring causing Michael Cole to start shouting, Eg, "Randy Orton in firm control over Daniel Bryan, What will happen when Raw returns", When raw comes back on Daniels has Orton in a subbmission. Thats just an example.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

The purpose of having commercials during matches, at least with taped shows, is to swiftly remove any mistakes from a match. It was reported that during last week's Smackdown, Orton brought a table into the ring (the commercial started as he was puling the table out from under the ring), and the legs on one side broke. He then threw the busted table out of the ring, got a second one, and checked the legs before he set it up. The commercial made it so the show went from Orton pulling out a table, and then once the show returned from commercial, the working table was already set up in the ring.

Don't like it? DVR.

 

[Robotman]

I'm not bothered by it since in most cases, nothing really happens between breaks. At most the only thing you're missing is one of them working a submission. Besides, even if something special did happen during the break they replay what you missed anyways. So yeah, I don't see the big deal to be honest.

 

[boywithatoy]

One of the reasons they go to commercials mid-match is so the heel can put a hold on the face (usually a headlock) and then do NOTHING ELSE for 4 or 5 minutes. This is meant to get the live crowd behind the face so when they come back from commercials and the face inevitably gets out of the hold the crowd SHOULD be pumped up and ready for the face to make a fiery comeback. However, having 4 minutes of just a headlock is pretty boring tv so they let the tv audience miss that bit and get stright to the pumped up crowd and fiery comeback. So, you're not missing much during the commercials!

 

[Aeon Mathix]

They are just TV matches. It's not like WWE is stupid enough to go to commercial during a match with some big spot happening while the commercial was running. What do you expect to get when you have a free match? You have to pay for the good stuff. Not every match you see on TV is going to an hour long Cena vs HBK masterpiece.

Even so, that match had commercials as well and still won match of the year.

 

[The12thMan]

From a fan point of view it stinks when a match is occuring and commercials come on. However from a business side I totally get it.

I actually work in the world of media marketing. If certain businesses sign on to promote their product etc WWE will do its best to promote it at the BTA (best time available). They know people will tune to see who wins the match, so while that happens they play the spots in the middle of the match. Makes sense from a marketing stand point.


Plus lets be honest, if there is a lot of sponsors, WWE will do whatever it has to do to get all the sponsors in. If that means cut a match short or a promo short, then so be it. Money talks my friends. I mean really its smart business

 

[TheUndertaker-0]

its not that big of a deal to me, although if i am enjoying a match i would feel a little upset if it went on commercial but its not that real

 

[DemonToSome]

I think it sucks when they go to commercial during matches but there's really no good way around it. But they need to better choose which matches to go to commercial during. I was SO fucking mad this past Monday when they went to commercial during the Punk/DBD match. Matches like that should be viewed in their entirety.

Go to commercial during certain matches sure...but matches you KNOW will be good need to be uninterrupted.

 

[HBKeith]

Nothing we can do about the commercials. Maybe have them during entrances and diva matches only? IDK. But, just one time to make it seem more realistic, I'd like for a match to end while we are at commercial and then come back with Cole having to explain what happened. I know it may never happen, but what the hell, might as well. Imagine if they did commercials during the in cage action in the UFC. You'd step away for 90 seconds and come back to the fight being over in some cases.

 

[Mustang Sally]

For the longest time, WWE ran matches with commercial interruptions in between. Then at some point in the Attitude Era, that all went away and commercials only occurred during the time between matches.?

My memory might be faulty here but I don't remember WWE ever cutting to commercials during matches before the Attitude Era. As I recall, it was WCW that started the practice, and I thought it looked chintzy. I was glad WWE never did that kind of thing; then was disappointed when they started.

Many fans look at a well-constructed wrestling match as the guys in the ring "telling a story".......but a story requires continuity, and breaking the spell by cutting to an ad about anti-perspirants or Budweiser serves only to interfere with our concentration. Hey, if a guy is lying outside the ring in a heap, getting counted out when the commercial comes, how did he come to be in full charge of the match when we got back from the break?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Shotaro]

I don't like it, but I understand that it is necessary. Ultimately I would rather a match were long enough to NEED a commercial break in the middle than fitting between the commercials (when I watch RAW live, it seems there are more commercials than actual program.) It would be worse for them to interrupt a promo since it would break the immersion totally if everyone stopped for three minutes.

 

[mrbungle]

Anyone else remember the days of WCW when their weekly show was coming from a Great American Bash location, and the show always ended as the Road Warriors climbed into the cage to battle Flair? I hated that

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

So? TV shows cut in the middle of story all the time. It's television. Vince isn't some evil bastard going "MUAHAHA I FUCKED UP YOUR ENJOYMENT TO MAKE MONEY" thinking that's what legitimately happens (which some of you sound like) is going full ******. Doesn't make any sense. It's TV people. You only have so long until you MUST go into commercial. If you don't want them to go into commercial, then we can have 4 minute matches that end in a run in (like the attitude era) or a 4 minute squash (like the era before the attitude era). Is that what you want?

I swear some of you can't connect reality and seperate the character Vince McMahon from how TV works.

 

[Buds Bundy]

i dont mind it
but when they do it during a battle royal i dont agree cause
that doesnt make sense