Do The Ratings Really Matter ?

[ztwhite]

So after reading the latest WZ News post by Bill Behrens, it appears as if Impact actually tops ECW when it comes to viewership.

It's a relatively small amount (less than 30,000 people), but should TNA consider this a ratings win ??

For those that don't know, ratings basically determine how much advertisers pay for commercial time. The higher the ratings, the more a promotions sales department (or tb station) can charge for spots. Eight months out of the year, ratings truly don't mean anything. Nielsen has what are called "sweeps months", which take place in February, May, July and November. This is when you'll see special appearances by high profile actors on your favorite sitcoms, special news reports, in-depth stories on local newscasts, tv movie premieres, etc... It's also when every show on television runs new episodes, rather than repeats. Ad rates are soely based off of these "sweeps months".

So to get back on track, should TNA be happy they're beating the WWE when it comes to viewers... albeit it's only ECW ?? It's highly probable that they're also beating Superstars, but it's still a new show and can hardly be factored in to this formula.

Additionally, even though it's been asked a thousand times, should Vince be concerned ??

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Ratings are extremely important, but not necessarily for the reasons people think. It is my understanding that WWE sees little, if any, of the advertising revenue from RAW (I would imagine the same thing goes for ECW, as it's on Sci Fi, which is also owned by NBC Universal, Inc.; I couldn't tell you anything about Smackdown! on MyNetworkTV or Superstars on WGN). But, the one thing RAW needs to worry about is keeping its ratings above a certain level so that they don't get the ax (they could have a contract with USA that gives them a certain amount of guaranteed seasons/years, just like SNL has or did have with NBC, but, you would have to check on that one). The same goes for iMPACT!, although I'm confident that TNA at least gets a cut of the advertising revenue that that show generates.

But, are ratings really important without taking advertising revenues and renewals into consideration? No, I don't think so. I say this because I don't think professional wrestling right now is a zero-sum game (that is to say, it's not a strictly competitive industry, where TNA's gain is WWE"s loss, or vice-versa). There's plenty of room to grow right now in the American professional wrestling industry.