iMPACT Moving To 8PM & Getting Thursday Replays

[NatureBoyFig4]

I just saw this tweet from Dixie Carter:

"Dixie Carter TNADixie
Mon Night iMPACT! moves to 8 pm ET start time on Spike each Monday w/an encore performance Thursdays at 9 pm ET. Spread the word! "

I haven't seen Monday's ratings yet, but IMO, this has to be a smart move. Say what you will about them having to "beat RAW" to be considered a successful company, but they were the KINGS of Thursday nights. Now they'll get an hour unopposed on Mondays every week, plus they're back to their traditional Thursday spot, where growth was slow but sure.

Good call for whoever made the decision. I'm curious to see what the numbers looked like, but this move gives them a fighting chance again.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The replay is actually intelligent IMO because of the fact that they're running an hour prior. If in the event folks do happen to turn iMPACT! off to switch to RAW for the first hour, catching the second half of iMPACT! on Thursday as a consolation prize is actually kind of nice, not to mention anyone who continues to watch on Thursday may eventually be persuaded to simply move to Monday's full-time.

The 8PM slot is very smart, though. That's the real key here, IMO.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

The unopposed hour seems almost necessary to boost ratings for the time being and allows Raw fans to watch some TNA before it starts.

Doubling the time you can be seen is always a good way to get more exposure, and it's just like IDR said, maybe some would be swayed to watch on Mondays too.

I used to believe the Replay was hurting the Monday ratings but that clearly is not the case so I see no problem with either of these things at all..

 

[GenMe]

That's really a smart move here, TNA starting an hour earlier before RAW it's a great Idea. That might boost up TNA's rating for the first hour, And I'm Dam sure that they will put on the best matches during the first hour of the event.

As for the replay I also like that Idea, There's some fans that can't watch Impact on mondays so now they could watch Impact on thursdays. That will be pretty crazy if the thurdays replay gets more rating then the actual Monday nights "live" show.

 

[Run_The_Option]

Going to 8 probably isn't a bad idea, but the Thursday replay seems kind of dumb to me. If I'm a WWE fan, what reason do I have to watch impact over Raw on Monday when I can just watch the replay on Thursday?

 

[gtajoker01]

I feel like this is a very bad move on tna's part. why couldnt they be happy with the thursday night time slot. I know a lot of people is excited and thrilled with the whole "Monday night war 2" thing. I dont think tna is ready for this they dont have the experience and they arent big enough. I just have a feeling this is going to end in a disaster.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Going to 8 probably isn't a bad idea, but the Thursday replay seems kind of dumb to me. If I'm a WWE fan, what reason do I have to watch impact over Raw on Monday when I can just watch the replay on Thursday?

The reason being you tune in for hour one, and just like Nitro managed to accomplish a decade ago, slowly but surely you hook new users into the product who eventually forget outright to change the channel because of how compelling the matches/story lines/feuds/etc. are.

The replay helps in the interim for folks who watch the first hour but not the second half, though I'd imagine at some point in time the replays would eventually cease.

 

[marklouis]

Very smart I think. You get the 8pm hour unopposed, and you get to replay the show for those who watched RAW or just can't watch on Monday for whatever reason. I'd love to see them create a 2nd show, maybe all X divison, that would air @ 8pm on Thursdays.

 

[Chess]

The score for Monday 5th was 0.85
Hour 1 - 0.91
Hour 2 - 0.77

I think this is the best thing TNA has done for a while. They will actually have a chance to keep some fans if hour 1 is good. Also the reply proved that it can score just as high as the reply.
All we need now the product to continue to improve and we may actually see TNA surviive more than 12 months

 

[Takerfan93]

The thing I'm wondering is, if they do well in this timeslot and increase their ratings to over 2.0, will they eventually move back to 9.00 head-to-head with Raw? Because they say they want to be the number one wrestling company in the world. But they don't have to go head-to-head with Raw to do that. But at the same time I think they are eager to reignite a second Monday night war, especially Hogan and Bischoff.

So do you think they will go back to 9.00 if they build up their ratings at this timeslot?

 

[Hawkeye]

i hate to break it to you,but sure they get an hour unopposed to RAW but the same can also be said for RAW.on top of that WWE's B and C shows (AND the 2AM replay of RAW) get better ratings than TNA.the best thing to would be to get on wednesday,wrestlings NEVER on on wednesday,and I hate that

 

[db82]

I take it that replays of raw, SD and impact arent a common thing then in the US? im from the UK and we have raw live at 2am on the mon night but then raw and SD are shown all the time in a replays thru the week sometimes in an afternoon slot n sometimes evening. Wish tna did more replays cos its on a sat night here and im hardly ever in and we dont get the live monday showing either.

 

[thedon01]

i think its a smart business move but is it really going to draw enough viewers to their product? imo no. Mcmahon is a business genius and a wrestling expert. He produced a family product in the 80's, lost in the late 90's and replaced it with a new demo of young adults, now he has brought back the PG rating and regained his family audience. It's all in prep for his own network. He needs big sponsers and the big ones come from PG ratings. When his network is established TNA will be over if not sooner.

Up and coming organizations like TNA need to learn from Mcmahon, you can't beat the guy who established wrestling entertainment at his own game, join him like Paul E did with ECW and work with him, don't challenge him, he's just too good. So imo i think TNA's move to 8 and replays are good for their competiton with WWE but just like WCW they will end in the long run.

 

[Hawkeye]

we get Raw on monday, nxt on tuesday, superstars on thursday, SD on friday and then raw am on saturday night/sunday morning

 

[marklouis]

I take it that replays of raw, SD and impact arent a common thing then in the US? im from the UK and we have raw live at 2am on the mon night but then raw and SD are shown all the time in a replays thru the week sometimes in an afternoon slot n sometimes evening. Wish tna did more replays cos its on a sat night here and im hardly ever in and we dont get the live monday showing either.

Replays are rare. Smackdown is not replayed at all. An hour of RAW is shown on either Saturday or Sunday morning, but not the entire show. So, TNA will be the only one of the 2 to offer a replay of one of their major shows.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

Replays are rare. Smackdown is not replayed at all. An hour of RAW is shown on either Saturday or Sunday morning, but not the entire show. So, TNA will be the only one of the 2 to offer a replay of one of their major shows.

Well, that's not exactly true. If you have the Universal HD channel, you get replays of both Raw (the full show) and NXT on Saturday Nights. If you don't, then you will have to make the choice on Monday Nights.

As for the time change, I have my reservations about putting the replay back on the same time slot TNA was shown before. I'm not sure how many new fans will watch the Thursday night repeat. The good thing to come out of this is TNA deciding to move to 8pm on the Monday Night airing. It definitely worked for them this week, despite what I personally believe was at best a so-so show. It was smart for TNA to put Angle-Anderson on through the 9pm segment. It gave the fans a choice between talk or action between the two shows. In the future, such counterprogramming could attract more viewers.

Still, spotting a .9 in the ratings is bad though no matter how you spin it. TNA has a lot to do in order to get the ratings up. This is a first step but not the only one they need to make.

 

[db82]

Quite surprised at that thought u would get even more replays than us. We also have bottom line and after burn which is like an hours version of raw/SD which is on quite a few times in week and the classics thing. Dont think nxt is on very often but to be honest theres no interest for that show in the UK as far as i know. Quite happy with sky now for their coverage of wwe just wish bravo would show tna more and get the ppv rights back.

 

[Travaje]

For me personally, replaying the show on Thursdays is the smarter move. I usually watch if there's nothing else on, or I'll go without or catch it on the internet if I have time. There is just not a lot to watch on any channel on Thursday nights, so if I'm home working, I'll turn on TNA. TNA is just not good enough to dictate to me when I have to watch, the viewers are telling them when they're willing to watch. Apparently, there are more people than just myself that liked it on Thursdays, and TNA (and Spike) was smart enough to listen to those viewers and give them what they want. Besides, it's not like they have groundbreaking original programming they're shelving to put TNA back on Thursdays.

 

[Rasha]

i hate to break it to you,but sure they get an hour unopposed to RAW but the same can also be said for RAW.on top of that WWE's B and C shows (AND the 2AM replay of RAW) get better ratings than TNA.the best thing to would be to get on wednesday,wrestlings NEVER on on wednesday,and I hate that

Cm'on champ... did you really "break" anything with that post?

Of course you're right, but RAW's unopposed hour (10-11) does nothing to hurt TNA. WWE is already on top of the mountain. The point here is that TNA's earlier start gives them a chance at more exposure and an audience they wouldn't have staying at 9:00. You think they care if people watch WWE for an hour after they've already signed off? Nah.

And yes, we know that the WWE's crap shows get better ratings than Impact. Was there to a point to that comment, or did you just try to sneak a little flaming into your obviously pro-WWE argument?

To your other point, Wednesday is considered the second-worst night for TV ratings in the weekday schedule (Friday obviously is the worst). They'd be better off staying on Thursdays than moving to Wed.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back when you get a clue.

 

[Pedro08]

It's a smart move on TNA's part. Let's face it, there is no Monday Night War. Raw dominates. TNA has to look to survive on Monday Night and hope to build an audience. Moving Impact to 8-10 gives them a unopposed hour and certainly helps to boost the ratings.

Showing the replay also helps give TNA more exposure giving them 4 hours of tv a week as oppose to 2. Hopefully down the line they can turn the replay on Thursday into a new show.

 

[Mr-excitement]

The reason being you tune in for hour one, and just like Nitro managed to accomplish a decade ago, slowly but surely you hook new users into the product who eventually forget outright to change the channel because of how compelling the matches/story lines/feuds/etc. are.

The replay helps in the interim for folks who watch the first hour but not the second half, though I'd imagine at some point in time the replays would eventually cease.

Nitro didn't hook people slowly, they were competitive against Raw from day one. The biggest question is what will Dixie's excuse be when the Impact rating does not improve despite this time change.

They should go back to Thursday period. Honestly, I don't have time to watch wrestling for three hours on Monday after working all day. Two hours is actually a little much.

 

[psykohurricane]

This is the first intelligent move TNA as made since Hogan & Bischoff arrived in TNA. Just look at the ratings for last monday's Impact, They did higher ratings from 8 to 9pm then from 9 to 10 pm. So now the big challenge for TNA is to keep the fans that are watching TNA from 8 to 9 interested in their product so that they don't think about changing the channel at 9 to watch Raw. That a really big challenge for them because they normally put the more interesting stuff after 9 and put all the crap in the first hour.

The thursday replay is a smart move also because that give them another shot of getting people interested without having forcing them to choose between the 2 products. On Thursday they are unopposed since WWE Superstar is at 8 pm so wrestling can watch both show without having to choose.

If They are smart, they should keep the thursday's replay for as long as they can because they need that extra exposure since they don'T have a second show to fall back on like the WWE have.

So i hope that this is the beginning of something good for them and i wish them good luck in their future endeavor.

 

[Chicago1989]

This switch to 8 PM is a smart move, but at the same time, it shows how TNA is getting squashed by RAW every week. They figured since they had their lowest rating ever, they made a big mistake going against RAW head to head. TNA is kind of showing their weakness but it's a smart move at the same time.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

IMO, they should have started at 8 PM the second they made the move to Monday. They need that jump on Raw. Sure, come 9 PM, TNA might be in trouble. But that could be one hour of decent ratings, and one hour is better than none.

The replay is HUGE, IMO. Without a replay, they are telling fans to watch on Monday or to not watch at all... and the fans chose Raw. Hogan and company were a little too cocky coming out of the gate. TNA, more than anything, needs as much exposure as they can get.

On Mondays, most people who are not TNA hardcore-loyalists, are going to continue to watch Raw. It's established, it's known. It's what those viewers know. TNA needs to get those viewers to know TNA. Having Impact start at 8, in combination with a Thursday replay, could really help TNA spread their product. At 8 PM, people who do not normally watch can get a taste for what TNA is all about (good or bad). And then, at first, they will almost certainly switch to Raw.

But I don't expect that to happen forever. I really think people who do not normally watch TNA, begin watching at 8, and then usually watch the second hour on Thursday, very well might to do more channel surfing between 9 and 10 than the WWE would like. This will be a slow process. But starting at 8 gives casual fans a chance to have a sort of "warm up" to Raw. And with that happening, TNA might be able to attract a good deal of fans.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

At last! They should've done this in the beginning but forget about it. It's done now.

GENIUS MOVE!

They are on Monday, they have 1 hour hour of viewership by both WWE and TNA fans and I bet that a ton of WWE fans would at least watch TNA on a regular basis.

Now, some people say that keeping a replay on Thursdays is going to hurt their ratings on Mondays. "Why watch it on Monday when I can watch it on Thursday". Well, right now they're not in a "Beat WWE in the ratings mindset". That's stupid. What they need now is to attract a bigger audience. Both Hogan and Dixie said it many many times before. So a Thursday replay of Impact! means viewers and that's all they need.

Very smart move, can't wait to see TNA roll with it.