How low do the ratings have to go before....

[Metalhead0290]

...WWE would consider going back to a TV-14 production? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. It seems over time WWE continues to slowly fall in the Nielson ratings. They're now sitting in the upper 2's each week for Raw pretty consistently. Just a few years ago, they were getting mid-upper 3's pretty consistently, with the occasional 4 thrown in. This was roughly 3-4 years ago. Just a couple years prior to that is when they hit the PG TV rating. Prior to that they had been getting a mixed bag of 3's and 4's just before they went PG, and of course, we all know how high they were a few years before that.

My question as stated earlier is simple...in your opinions, how much farther would the ratings need to drop before the WWE could actually CONSIDER making a return to TV-14? The key world is consider. I'm not talking about at what point they would definitely choose to go back with, but rather at what point they would begin to seriously question their current standings, while at the same time realizing what they had done in the past with a TV-14 rating.

 

[RedRegan1005]

I don't think they'll consider it for a very long time, if ever. If ratings keep dropping though, I won't be shocked if they start to add small elements of it to the top storylines while still keeping lower card stuff purely P.G. WWE right now with the ratings are just like WCW. WWE started getting a lot better with the rise of Foley, DX, and austin, while WCW just stayed the same, and got worse. They didn't notice a difference for awhile cause WCW had built up such a strong fan base. They kept tuning in to see if anything would change, but eventually got sick of it. That's what I think happened with this weeks rating drop. The Raws in previous weeks sucked! And we didn't see it right away, but then this week they had .2 drop I think? That's viewers being fed up with past weeks, and finally changing the channel. WWE doesn't need to go total TV-14 again to bounce back, back but they need to add a dash of it back into the product just to give it an edge again.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

Good stories can be told with whatever rating. 2001 A space odissey has a U rating I'll remember you.

The problem of WWE is not the rating but the poor booking and writing.

 

[Zycho32]

Well, how low is TNA right now in the ratings?

That's not a knock; the reality is WWF doesn't go TV-14 without WCW trying to kick their teeth in. So the Attitude Era was born from an Equal Contender trying to kill them. These days, WWE has to genuinely fall a GREAT deal just to get down to TNA's level AND lose money at an obscene rate- think the WWE Network induced Stock Drop times ten-just to be forced in that direction.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Agreed, it isn't the rating that is the issue but rather the creative side. wwe treats this rating as if it us kid only which is why we get dumb storylines but really, it isn't any different than it was before The Attitude Era and you could have more mature storylines then. Problem isn't rating, it is that they are more interested in the "entertainment" side instead of the "sports" side and forgot that the match is supposed to tell the story, not 15 minute promos.

 

[Mudlup50]

I don't think they ever will and as someone else pointed out in other forums, the ratings drop makes Rollins and Ambrose look bad too, they're being handed the keys to the show and the ratings dropped. So if it keeps going this way, Vince might pull the chance from Ambrose and Rollins.

On a seperate note, I don't think WWE needs to be worried. On Monday's they have an insanely popular sport(football), an insanely popular sitcom(Big Bang Theory) and that crime show(Blacklist?). Not like it's an excuse but the use of Tivo is rising I believe?

Regardless, as everyone else has said, if some competition forced them into it but I don't see it happening. The ratings could be a 1 for all they care, it's when there's fear that they care...plus TV 14 wouldn't work as well I think today.

 

[stingray11214]

As long as parents are plunking down $35 for John Cena shirts and $59 for WWE video games for their kids, nothing will change. The ratings could be below that of the Chef of the Future infomercial at 3 AM, as long as the merch is flying out of WWESHOP.com, nothing will change.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's been a while since we had another "I want my TV 14 back" thread. Whether it's PG or TV 14, the television rating doesn't have squat to do with ratings. Blood, frequent swearing during promos, female wrestlers acting like pole dancers, etc. isn't going to increase ratings. As somebody else has pointed out, all you have to do is take a look at TNA's ratings as all the proof you need of that.

Prior to the height of the Attitude Era, Raw's ratings up against Monday Night Football were basically on the same level they currently are now, which tends to be in the mid to upper 2s. As much as some people want to see a return of the Attitude Era, the simple fact of the matter is that it was a fad. There are certain fads in television that come & go and the Attitude Era was one of those. It a different way for wrestling to be portrayed, something people hadn't seen before and people did tune in to watch in record numbers. However, like all TV fads, or even some long term success in some TV shows, the ratings boom eventually fell out from under them and people move onto other things.

At the peak of its popularity, from about 2002-2011, American Idol was drawing between 20-30 million viewers an episode. During the seasons of '05-'06 and '06-'07, episodes averaged over 30 million viewers. This past season's average was roughly 11.4 million, which is still a lot of people, but it's a perfect example showing that it's just not as popular as it once was. They've lost a full two-thirds of the audience they once had. A few years back, new episodes of shows like Pawn Stars and Jersey Shore were drawing 6.5 to 7 million viewers. As of now, Pawn Stars draws about half that and the final season episodes of Jersey Shore averaged somewhere in the mid 2 millions in viewership. The second and third seasons of Duck Dynasty averaged 8.3 and 9.1 million viewers per episode. The season four premiere drew 11.8 million viewers, making it the most watched nonfiction, non-sports program in cable TV history. This past season, viewership averaged somewhere in the mid 3 million range.

Back during the closing days of the Attitude Era, long before WWE went PG, ratings were already starting to fall. People's tastes changed, casual fans were no longer interested, etc. Besides, Attitude Era style programming would only land WWE in hot water because political correctness has become the new religion. Whenever WWE does anything controversial, somebody gets offended, goes to social media, complains about it and get other people to do it as well. Some people are such sheep that they'll gripe about it just for the sake of wanting to be a part of it whether they were even offended or not. Look at Swagger & Zeb Coulter early last year and how many people accused WWE of being racist, look at how many people got offended when CM Punk & Paul Heyman "made fun" of Jerry Lawler's heart attack or when they "disrespected" Paul Bearer's memory. It's a different world from the one we knew in 1999, for the better in some ways and not so much in others.

All things considered, however, I don't believe that WWE is too worried at this point. Competition for them on Monday nights has never been stiffer, yet the overall ratings hasn't been any worse than this time last year and is a little better than the year before it. Raw has to go up against not only Monday Night Football, but other ratings juggernauts like The Big Bang Theory, The Blacklist and Scorpion. The Big Bang Theory often outdraws even Monday Night Football while The Blacklist & Scorpion draw roughly 12 million viewers each.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I agree that TV ratings aren't the paramount reason for changing what WWE does. Sure, they want people to watch their programming, yet Vince McMahon surely realizes that all the alternative entertainment vehicles people have to watch today are more responsible for ratings not being what they used to be than the fact the product is no longer TV-14.

That said, I'd like to see pro wrestling back in that mode. Yes, the Attitude Era was a fad, yet I distinctly remember becoming fascinated with the product all over again when reading Bret Hart's lips as he said "bullshit" to Sid Justice .....and had Sid return the word in kind. The word itself was shocking, and conveyed a context that was unfamiliar, yet seemed proper for what pro wrestling was supposed to be.

If people who settle the slightest of disputes by using their fists is going to be depicted accurately, wouldn't you expect dirty language and blood to be part of the proceedings? I enjoyed the whole thing; it seemed right and proper.

Alas, WWE has decided their future is with the kiddies. Sure, there's still enough innuendo and risky material to keep us old folks tuning in, but the TV rating they've chosen is a sure indication of whom they want to appeal to. If they're making fans of the young folks now.....and that allegiance continues as they age.....ratings might return to loftier levels in the future.

Meanwhile, there's still a clever mix of stuff that makes me a constant viewer regardless of their TV rating, but it would be great to send the kids to bed and get to enjoy the edgier elements again.

 

[Navi]

The rating won't mean a thing, because hard core fans will continue to watch, doesn't matter how awful it is right now. Even those that say they've done with WWE will still post about what's going on. Let's face it either you like wrestling or you don't, and if you like it you'll watch it regardless.

As long as it's being geared towards the younger crowd nothing will change. It's the kids who bring their parents, who spend the cash that's keeping this boat afloat. Vince McMahon has found an unending stream of revenue with the little guys, and as long as they keep watching and dragging parents with open wallets, the WWE will remain on the air. If it hasn't have been for what they invested into the network to get it up and running, they would be in the black as they always have been. They will soon make the money back and Vince will be a billionaire again. The old saying "If it's broke don't fix it" applies here.

 

[whoopin' ass]

I think the main thing to remember in all this is that it comes down to money. wwe lost a lot of sponsors during the Attitude Era due to their storylines and that meant a loss in revenue. Now that they are a publicly traded company, they need to be careful what they do as they have investors to answer to. Just look at all the heat they took with the network issues. While some fans like myself don't like the product, fact is wwe is making good money at this rating. It is like movies today - even though it doesn't always make sense, getting a pg13 rating opens a wider audience than an R rating so you stand to make more money. This is pg13 for tv.

 

[TheICChampion]

I think this whole thing about WWE needing to be PG and PC stems from hypocrisy. I can't tell you how many kids I see on the streets (I'm talking 10 maybe as the oldest) saying "F___ this" and "F--- you" and "B---h" etc. Gee, I wonder where they picked up that language. Most likely from the same parents who condemn even the slightest bit of swearing or whatever's even remotely risque on the TV.

Some random parent: "I'm offended because so-and-so said the "A-word" on WWE. I don't want my kid learning that kind of language. That's just awful. Shame on you, WWE."

Same random parent on the phone or talking to their spouse or whoever with their kid in the same room or at least within earshot: F___ that, man. That stupid b____,

Etc. You get the idea.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

There are a huge number of things that WWE would have to be facing before it considered going back to PG14. Let's address the ratings; the days of high 4.0+ ratings are gone. WWE had no major household names like the Rock & Steve Austin were 13 years or more ago. The internet and high speed connections has changed the way WWE fans view the products. The product will remain suitable for kids because it allows the TV networks to sell advertising space on the programme and during commercial breaks. This is where WWE makes a huge amount of it's revenue from. Furthermore, if the USA Network that airs the show in the USA, owns the rights to the broadcasting of this programme (by perhaps paying the vast majority of the production costs per episode)then they will also sell the broadcast around the World; in the UK it will go out on Sky Sports. So only if the ratings got disasterously low; it is sustainable short term (and WWE would likely get a bit of space and time with this as they have delivered consistantly decent ratings for 21 years), and the WWE would be allowed to have a shot at pushing someone else other than John Cena; because they make so much money from the rest of the world broadcasts.

I think it would be the last thing they would do; return to PG14. Not only that, the kids toys would not be marketable anymore. And the thing with WWE; they are no good at doing different productions; it has to be one narrative or another. I remember in 1996; they had kid friendly tv shows; and tried to bring in Shotgun Saturday Night; which was a bit edgier; but they couldn't capture the right mood for another year or so.

I think that we will see another boom type period one day; when Cena turns or retires. I do not see a day where WWE will go back to PG14 for at least 10 years.

 

[Mark Henrys Sandwich]

The answer is right under their noses, all they need to do is bring in a huge megastar, it's time to bring in El Dandy.

 

[prestonluv]

Ratings fully matter. Anyone saying they don't does not understand TV.

The higher the ratings the more money for the TV station. The more money they can charge for advertisements which means the more money and support they will give the TV show.

Stations can charge a lot more for TV ads on a 4.5 rating WWE raw than they can on a 3.0 rated raw.

 

[Darkshadow1234]

In my opinion the rating needs to be changed to TV-14 or MA. Not Pg.
Wrestling isn't suppose to be PG or for kids. If you really think about it.

But the rating isnt the only problem.
Its the writing and creative team thats lacking.

Wrestling needs to be edgier but fun and exciting to watch at the same time.
With great wrestling and angles. Swerves that make sense. Characters that stand out. Let wrestlers be themselves. Right now, wrestlers look the same. And act the same.
Good storylines as well
Like during the AE.
AE had great wrestling despite what people say.
Ruthless aggression era had better wrestling than AE. But thats about it.

WWE now needs a rating change.
And good writing and creativity.

Thats my opinion

 

[Trill Co$by]

I agree that TV ratings aren't the paramount reason for changing what WWE does. Sure, they want people to watch their programming, yet Vince McMahon surely realizes that all the alternative entertainment vehicles people have to watch today are more responsible for ratings not being what they used to be than the fact the product is no longer TV-14.

The genius Sally speaks again (and this isn't sarcasm). As stated, or at least implied, times have changed since the Attitude Era. If you don't believe me, just look at your cell phone. The fact that we now have these little devices that now control our lives when back in the Attitude Era we had Nokia phones with just the mere Snake games on them is a testament to how we've grown. Even bigger testament is the amount of in between products since then... the flip phones, razor phones, Chocolate MP3 Phones, slider phones, blackberry, to even the latest smartphone and iPhones...

WWE and how to obtain it is absolutely no different. In the late 90s to the early 2000s it wasn't as easy to go to WWEPPVSTREAMSITE1.0 (not a real site) to stream WWE PPVs, it wasn't as easy to just type in "WWE Raw 10-6-14" into our favorite torrent site and click the download button, and it damn sure wasn't as easy to just click the icon and instantly load to the page... We had to click the icon, listen to that awful dial-up tone, load the homepage, then type the web address into the web browser (which then was just Internet Explorer) and wait five minutes just for the page to show the top 1/4... So of course, back then, watching wrestling the day it came on was a necessity or you didn't watch it.

Nowadays there are other means for watching. Fans can go to WWE Network, Hulu, USA Network, and even download the shows whenever they want. The ratings in WWE, in my opinion, have to truly be higher than what Nielson is watching. With all the means of being able to watch WWE, it's just too impossible to believe that wrestling fans only watch Raw through their cable provider. Especially since more people nowadays don't have cable nor sattelite, in favor of internet and streaming sites such as Hulu (7.99/month beats 35/month).

So with that in mind, I don't think WWE will have to worry about low ratings anytime soon and even if ratings still start to slip, it would just be a matter of time before another hotbed issue came up that popped WWE back into mainstream media.

In my opinion the rating needs to be changed to TV-14 or MA. Not Pg.
Wrestling isn't suppose to be PG or for kids. If you really think about it.

I hate to break it to you hipster, but "Say your prayers and eat your vitamins" came long before middle fingers and chair shots. Pro-Wrestling has always been about family fun. WCW knew that, NWA knew that, WWE knows that, and basically every successful promotion ever knows that. Also, when you stop to think about it; wrestling is nothing more than a kids show. You mean to tell me that a show with larger than life super muscular good guys wearing bright colored spandex defeating the equally if not larger bad guy in dark colored spandex isn't supposed to be for kids? Give me a break, it's got Power Rangers and comic books written all over it.

 

[Reflection]

I'm guessing RAW will have to come down to 2.0 and Smackdown to 0.8, before they'd consider going back to TV-14. And not just the ratings, all those anti-bullying, breast cancer awareness and other campaigns will have to flop and stop bringing them any money, before they'd make that consideration. Oh and also, the kids will have to boycott their merchandise and start buying from TNA instead, before they switch their target audience and go back the old 'Attitude' way. Do you see that happening?

 

[Darkshadow1234]

The genius Sally speaks again (and this isn't sarcasm). As stated, or at least implied, times have changed since the Attitude Era. If you don't believe me, just look at your cell phone. The fact that we now have these little devices that now control our lives when back in the Attitude Era we had Nokia phones with just the mere Snake games on them is a testament to how we've grown. Even bigger testament is the amount of in between products since then... the flip phones, razor phones, Chocolate MP3 Phones, slider phones, blackberry, to even the latest smartphone and iPhones...

WWE and how to obtain it is absolutely no different. In the late 90s to the early 2000s it wasn't as easy to go to WWEPPVSTREAMSITE1.0 (not a real site) to stream WWE PPVs, it wasn't as easy to just type in "WWE Raw 10-6-14" into our favorite torrent site and click the download button, and it damn sure wasn't as easy to just click the icon and instantly load to the page... We had to click the icon, listen to that awful dial-up tone, load the homepage, then type the web address into the web browser (which then was just Internet Explorer) and wait five minutes just for the page to show the top 1/4... So of course, back then, watching wrestling the day it came on was a necessity or you didn't watch it.

Nowadays there are other means for watching. Fans can go to WWE Network, Hulu, USA Network, and even download the shows whenever they want. The ratings in WWE, in my opinion, have to truly be higher than what Nielson is watching. With all the means of being able to watch WWE, it's just too impossible to believe that wrestling fans only watch Raw through their cable provider. Especially since more people nowadays don't have cable nor sattelite, in favor of internet and streaming sites such as Hulu (7.99/month beats 35/month).

So with that in mind, I don't think WWE will have to worry about low ratings anytime soon and even if ratings still start to slip, it would just be a matter of time before another hotbed issue came up that popped WWE back into mainstream media.





I hate to break it to you hipster, but "Say your prayers and eat your vitamins" came long before middle fingers and chair shots. Pro-Wrestling has always been about family fun. WCW knew that, NWA knew that, WWE knows that, and basically every successful promotion ever knows that. Also, when you stop to think about it; wrestling is nothing more than a kids show. You mean to tell me that a show with larger than life super muscular good guys wearing bright colored spandex defeating the equally if not larger bad guy in dark colored spandex isn't supposed to be for kids? Give me a break, it's got Power Rangers and comic books written all over it.

Typical mark. Not a hipster. Just my opinion.
That's your opinion.
Wrestling hasn't always been family fun.
Before the hogan era.
In the 50s through 70s era. Wrestling wasn't really PG. Or for kids. At time. Before the hogan era. You should watch and do research. ijs

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Get all the PG crap out of the way in the first hour of Raw. Have it go to TV-14ish in the 2nd hour of Raw. By the third hour of Raw...it's all TV-14. Put it in big, bold letters across the whole screen so parents know when it's time for the kids to stop watching.

 

[JPiSWAR]

Face facts "wrestling" is dead. Its pointless now, yaaaasssssss a jumped through the rope again :s think about it.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Typical mark. Not a hipster. Just my opinion.
That's your opinion.
Wrestling hasn't always been family fun.
Before the hogan era.
In the 50s through 70s era. Wrestling wasn't really PG. Or for kids. At time. Before the hogan era. You should watch and do research. ijs

Or maybe you should... Wrestling in the 50s through the 70s WAS family friendly. That's why Gorgeous George appeared at local high schools, that's why Bruno Sammartino was hugging and kissing babies, that's why wrestling the wrestling circuit is referred to as a carnival. Just because you're too brain dead to recognize facts doesn't make the real facts any less factual.

 

[Darkshadow1234]

Or maybe you should... Wrestling in the 50s through the 70s WAS family friendly. That's why Gorgeous George appeared at local high schools, that's why Bruno Sammartino was hugging and kissing babies, that's why wrestling the wrestling circuit is referred to as a carnival. Just because you're too brain dead to recognize facts doesn't make the real facts any less factual.

Wrestling wasnt pg at the time. Especially during the old days.
Just bc those wrestlers did that. Doesn't always mean it was family friendly.

that's your opinion.

 

[LBGetBack]

...WWE would consider going back to a TV-14 production? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. It seems over time WWE continues to slowly fall in the Nielson ratings. They're now sitting in the upper 2's each week for Raw pretty consistently. Just a few years ago, they were getting mid-upper 3's pretty consistently, with the occasional 4 thrown in. This was roughly 3-4 years ago. Just a couple years prior to that is when they hit the PG TV rating. Prior to that they had been getting a mixed bag of 3's and 4's just before they went PG, and of course, we all know how high they were a few years before that.

My question as stated earlier is simple...in your opinions, how much farther would the ratings need to drop before the WWE could actually CONSIDER making a return to TV-14? The key world is consider. I'm not talking about at what point they would definitely choose to go back with, but rather at what point they would begin to seriously question their current standings, while at the same time realizing what they had done in the past with a TV-14 rating.

It's a new era. Cable ratings are down across the board with Netflix, hulu, youtube, etc. Those attitude era ratings are long gone. Not to mention, they went down a LONG time ago. They were declining in 2001-02, and never really stopped.

Not even sure TV-14 would matter. Was recently watching some 1999 PPV's.....what a bunch of ******ed ass, shock value bullshit. So dumb.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I don't think changing to tv-14 would help the ratings, Everyone seemed to watch WWF during the 80's and that seemed more pg orientated than it is now.