My ideas for weekly Raw and Smackdown

[Why Always Me]

1) Raw at 3 hours is slightly too long to watch IMO. Smackdown at 2 hours (less in the UK when the recaps and from the vault matches are shown) doesn't quite seem long enough, especially compared to Raw. So why not make both Raw and Smackdown 2 and a half hours? That why no tv time is lost, but it is spread evenly between the two shows. Even with the brand extension pretty much over, that IMO would still be enough time for the top dogs (CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus etc....) to appear on both shows and then the lower wrestlers (Zack Ryder, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Santino etc.....) to appear on either Raw or Smackdown each week.

2) I feel Smackdown needs to be both live and on a Thursday. How about having Raw live on Monday on the USA network and Smackdown live on Thursday, also on the USA network. Then Syfy has a re-run of Raw 24 hours later on Tuesday and a re-run of Smackdown 24 hours later on Friday? That way Smackdown is still shown on Friday on Syfy, but only 24 hours after, so less time to read spoilers, and the same policy is adopted for Raw. Both networks get both Raw and Smackdown, which could lead to increased viewership, as people who maybe don't have USA do have Syfy and so could wait 24 hours to watch Raw and Smackdown (we in the UK don't need to worry about that, all on Sky Sports).

Thoughts??

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

As much as I would like a live Smackdown, it would be too dificult to do. If the travel and money aspects could be solved, than you would run into the problem of having a certain set of guys on Raw, and another set on Smackdown as the same guys doing two live shows in two completely different cities would be very tough.

 

[Dagger Dias]

How about having Raw live on Monday on the USA network and Smackdown live on Thursday, also on the USA network. Then Syfy has a re-run of Raw 24 hours later on Tuesday and a re-run of Smackdown 24 hours later on Friday?

I don't think that's a good idea. Having a rerun for either Raw or Smackdown is going to mean less people watching it. More people are likely to watch Raw knowing the particular day and time each week that they are able to. If the option to watch a rerun later in the week were in place, monday's viewership would drop significantly and people would have results available if they did not watch. Say you missed monday's edition. Then you go read the results. How likely are you to watch the rerun now? Viewership would go down if they did reruns.

The same is said for Smackdown even if they went live. Live Smackdown editions should either be on tuesdays when they tape it, or moving the tapings to fridays since that is the day most already associate with the blue brand. It would be a pain for WWE to move their tapings so I see live editions on tuesdays being a much more likely option. That eliminates the risk of fans electing to not watch after reading spoilers. It's a nice idea, although I doubt viewership would increase for either show, which should be the priority. I do like the idea of them both being on the USA network if that were to happen, at least. Part of why Smackdown is the most viewed show on Sy-Fy is because there really isn't much on there that most people would want to watch. Then there's also the issue of if people watched it on USA live, why watch a rerun on Sy-Fy? Too many issues for these ideas to work.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

1) Raw at 3 hours is slightly too long to watch IMO. Smackdown at 2 hours (less in the UK when the recaps and from the vault matches are shown) doesn't quite seem long enough, especially compared to Raw. So why not make both Raw and Smackdown 2 and a half hours? That why no tv time is lost, but it is spread evenly between the two shows. Even with the brand extension pretty much over, that IMO would still be enough time for the top dogs (CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus etc....) to appear on both shows and then the lower wrestlers (Zack Ryder, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Santino etc.....) to appear on either Raw or Smackdown each week.

Not a bad idea but it is far from that simple. Just guessing but shows start on the hour as opposed to the half hour for a reason. Networks have a harder time pulling in an audience at the half hour point than the hour mark.

But more importantly, why drop a half hour from a higher rated show to a lower rated show. It's like giving away money.

2) I feel Smackdown needs to be both live and on a Thursday.

This is going to cost more money and put them head to head with not just TNA but also some of the most popular shows in television right now. In the beginning SD was a Thursday night show (can't remember if it was live) and was moved to Friday for a reason.

How about having Raw live on Monday on the USA network and Smackdown live on Thursday, also on the USA network.

I'm sure WWE would love to be on USA more than SyFy but I don't think that is their decision.

Then Syfy has a re-run of Raw 24 hours later on Tuesday and a re-run of Smackdown 24 hours later on Friday? That way Smackdown is still shown on Friday on Syfy, but only 24 hours after, so less time to read spoilers, and the same policy is adopted for Raw.

Not sure SyFy wants to pay for repeats. Universal HD already repeats Raw and SD on Saturday night. How much of SyFy and USA's programming do you think they want revolved around wrestling? These networks have other purposes and they can't get a repuataion for being dedicated to the wrestling fan.

Both networks get both Raw and Smackdown, which could lead to increased viewership, as people who maybe don't have USA do have Syfy and so could wait 24 hours to watch Raw and Smackdown (we in the UK don't need to worry about that, all on Sky Sports).

Thoughts??

You have a far higher opinion of pro wrestling than the general American TV audience. I like your attitude and spunk but you're asking for something that TV networks would accomodate if it made money and sense.

 

[Coco]

I don't think that's a good idea. Having a rerun for either Raw or Smackdown is going to mean less people watching it.

You say this, but Raw airs three times a week in Canada. It's certainly not without precedent. Besides, the aim when it comes to getting huge ratings is to get huge advertising dollars. But if the advertising dollars gained through multiple broadcasts offset whatever losses are incurred by slightly declining viewership on the original broadcast, what's the problem?

Also, GSB says repeats are already out there. So clearly you have no idea what a good idea is.

As for the proposed solutions, I'm not feeling it. Especially the bit about Raw and SmackDown both being 2.5 hours a piece. It's still five hours of programming a week that WWE doesn't know how to fill. Shuffling deck chairs doesn't fix larger creative problems.

 

[XXJJ]

I don't think their is a need for either Raw or Smackdown to be over two hours. When your doing a weekly show sometimes a little less is better. Ideally, you want your fans to feel like they cant wait to see what happens next week, but thats very tough to do when you are doing 6 hours of tv a week between Raw, SD and Main Event.

With the brand extension basically being dead. I think they should just go back to the old format. Unify the WWE and World title with Raw as the main show and Smackdown as the secondary show. You will have a much better main event scene when you have guys like Punk, Orton, Cena, Ryback, Sheamus etc all going after 1 title.