No More "Monday" in Monday Night RAW!? Let's Help Out - Improve Ratings!

[Hard Hit Prince]

Hey guys! This is just a simple question that I would like to see your take on - it's more of a tradition than useful to have Raw on Monday Nights in the USA Network, specially since Monday's are considered American Football heavy in programming that can be shifting viewers from pro-wrestling to football.

In this generation of DVR's, etc.. the day of the week a show is broadcast may not matter anymore, but I've read recent reports that WWE is looking to make a ton of money with TV right fees like NASCAR did some months back - something like triple or quadruple their actual fees, so for that they are going to emphasize on the weekly shows like Raw and SmackDown - and that got me thinking about ways to improve the television ratings.

First for those who don't know, there is ratings and share to measure television viewers. Ratings represents the number of people watching that said channel in all the televisions in the entire country. Share is the number of people watching said channel in only the televisions that are on at that same time.

So ratings, right? It's a given that WWE's ratings are down SIGNIFICANTLY and getting lower since 2002 - with now averaging in the 2.9 figure (it means that 2.9% of people with TV are watching Raw, notbad?) so, how does WWE improve their number?

I've thought about changing the day of Raw to any other with few competition, something like a Tuesday or whatever. I know this is really difficult to do, given the fact that it would change schedules, house-shows and what not but I don't know if with time the ratings wouldn't really feel the change for the better. Another measure is also going back to two hour shows - it's a given that Raw with two hours had bigger ratings than those, but going three it's also a economical decision because that means a whole new hour to make money in TV fees (but in ratings, the third hour more often than not does lose a lot of viewers).

As far as media and publicity, WWE does a tremendous amount of work in that area so people KNOW WWE and what they do - but do they? I mean we all have had that conversation: "wrestling is fake and it's for kids", but is it? I think that they need to define some new way of communicate, it's a really interesting subject for the Marketing Dep. to figure out and work on it - because for what I'm seeing WWE is working on the power of the brand more than the power of their product and I don't think that's really smart specially in the long-term.

Also a lot of stuff has been going via internet and thank god I'm part of the IWC because without it I would be losing a lot of material and information - example, I would probably be surprised as hell to see Rey Mysterio at Survivor Series. But why that? Well hype... Hype may very well be the solution for everything in the television world, but nothing is really hyped anymore, stuff just happen. Once again going at last Monday Night - we had an Intercontinental Championship Match caught by surprise, a bonus as they call it, but wouldn't that be a whole lot better if actually hyped up the previous week? A two minute segment is enough to setup a match I guess, is two minutes in over 120 minutes of show too much? It would make the wrestlers feel special because they would be in our minds when we thought about "what's goin' to happen this next Monday? Oh yeah, Big E. is going after the title, I wanna see if he actually wins it..."


So yeah, I think I've wrote too much already for a OP - so Improve Ratings? How? Is changing the day of Raw actually a viable option? Would it make a difference? It's the stars? It's the overexposure? It's the idea that wrestling is for kids? What? Discuss!!

 

[Duderino]

I skip raw during football season, except a few weeks ago when it was the Vikings vs. The Giants. What an awful game.

Anyway, I'd be way more likely to watch Raw during football season if it were on Tuesdays, where there aren't really any other watchable shows on TV.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Get ready for the barrage of "Bring back the Attitude Era" responses because I'm sure they're coming. As much as some want to blame the decline on the PG rating, it's just not that simple, or accurate for that matter. Raw's ratings started to dip LONG before WWE officially went PG. They started to decline right when the Monday Night Wars ended and while WWE was still TV-14.

Pro wrestling isn't as popular as it once was and I highly doubt that there's anything that can be done to bring the ratings back into the 4s or 5s that were common during the Attitude Era. Even when WWE had The Rock on Raw regularly during WM season the past few years, they couldn't come close to those numbers. Wrestling was different, fans were different, society was different while WWF & WCW were presenting wrestling in a way that people hadn't seen before. Some of it was innovative and groundbreaking, while some of it was pure grade A shit. Both companies were genuinely competing with one another and wanted to run the other one out of business. When that ended, interest started to fade and continued to fade.

With the way things are now, a return to the Attitude Era probably wouldn't be met with open arms all in all. Look at the sort of reaction some segments & storylines that have definite AE undertones have been recieved. When Swagger & Colter debuted, social media lit up with people voicing outrage, accusing WWE of promoting racism and an anti-immigration stance. Then politicians and political blowhards like Glenn Beck got in on the act. Remember when CM Punk and Paul Heyman "mocked" Jerry Lawler's heart attack? Remember the outrage it drew from people, almost as though they felt like WWE was poking fun of heart attack victims who were family members? Jerry Lawler himself gave permission weeks earlier to go through with it. What about when Punk "disrespected" Paul Bearer and scattered his "ashes" over Taker's prone body? People absolutely freaked the fuck out over these things, forgetting or outright ignoring that they weren't Bearer's ashes, that Swagger & Colter aren't "real", that Bearer's grown sons okay'd the Punk/Taker segment. Fans were griping about it, as were dirtsheet writers, all while claiming that they've wanted to see something edgier on WWE for a long time. It's all scripted just like any scene from any other show on television. It's also a ridiculous double standard when you think about it. If a genuinely racist character popped up on Sons of Anarchy or had been on Breaking Bad, nobody'd bat an eye. They'd accept said character as just that, a fictional character. But, for some reason, WWE seems to be held to a different standard.

Raw has taken an especially hard hit this year and last year against Monday Night Football. Are some people simply disinterested? Sure, I'd be surprised otherwise. At the same time, according to various reports, Raw still continues to average in the mid 4 millions here in the states when DVR viewership is tablulated with live viewership. That's right where Raw has been for years now in terms of viewers in the US, though it's generally higher the first 4 to 6 months out of the year with DVR viewership pushing the average Raw to close to 5 million viewers.

A simple solution might be for WWE to move Raw to another night, possibly Tuesday as has been mentioned. Aside from Sons of Anarchy during the fall, WWE wouldn't really have very much competition on Tuesdays. Even so, SOA doesn't draw 10, 12, 15 million or more viewers like Monday Night Football does.

 

[Kaptain Klobber]

Get ready for the barrage of "Bring back the Attitude Era" responses because I'm sure they're coming. As much as some want to blame the decline on the PG rating, it's just not that simple, or accurate for that matter. Raw's ratings started to dip LONG before WWE officially went PG. They started to decline right when the Monday Night Wars ended and while WWE was still TV-14.

Pro wrestling isn't as popular as it once was and I highly doubt that there's anything that can be done to bring the ratings back into the 4s or 5s that were common during the Attitude Era. Even when WWE had The Rock on Raw regularly during WM season the past few years, they couldn't come close to those numbers. Wrestling was different, fans were different, society was different while WWF & WCW were presenting wrestling in a way that people hadn't seen before. Some of it was innovative and groundbreaking, while some of it was pure grade A shit. Both companies were genuinely competing with one another and wanted to run the other one out of business. When that ended, interest started to fade and continued to fade.

With the way things are now, a return to the Attitude Era probably wouldn't be met with open arms all in all. Look at the sort of reaction some segments & storylines that have definite AE undertones have been recieved. When Swagger & Colter debuted, social media lit up with people voicing outrage, accusing WWE of promoting racism and an anti-immigration stance. Then politicians and political blowhards like Glenn Beck got in on the act. Remember when CM Punk and Paul Heyman "mocked" Jerry Lawler's heart attack? Remember the outrage it drew from people, almost as though they felt like WWE was poking fun of heart attack victims who were family members? Jerry Lawler himself gave permission weeks earlier to go through with it. What about when Punk "disrespected" Paul Bearer and scattered his "ashes" over Taker's prone body? People absolutely freaked the fuck out over these things, forgetting or outright ignoring that they weren't Bearer's ashes, that Swagger & Colter aren't "real", that Bearer's grown sons okay'd the Punk/Taker segment. Fans were griping about it, as were dirtsheet writers, all while claiming that they've wanted to see something edgier on WWE for a long time. It's all scripted just like any scene from any other show on television. It's also a ridiculous double standard when you think about it. If a genuinely racist character popped up on Sons of Anarchy or had been on Breaking Bad, nobody'd bat an eye. They'd accept said character as just that, a fictional character. But, for some reason, WWE seems to be held to a different standard.

Raw has taken an especially hard hit this year and last year against Monday Night Football. Are some people simply disinterested? Sure, I'd be surprised otherwise. At the same time, according to various reports, Raw still continues to average in the mid 4 millions here in the states when DVR viewership is tablulated with live viewership. That's right where Raw has been for years now in terms of viewers in the US, though it's generally higher the first 4 to 6 months out of the year with DVR viewership pushing the average Raw to close to 5 million viewers.

A simple solution might be for WWE to move Raw to another night, possibly Tuesday as has been mentioned. Aside from Sons of Anarchy during the fall, WWE wouldn't really have very much competition on Tuesdays. Even so, SOA doesn't draw 10, 12, 15 million or more viewers like Monday Night Football does.

I couldn't ave said it better myself. Political correctness has taken over, whether we like it or not. Some of the stuff done during the 90s would be given nuclear heat by the media and viewers today. I think moving Raw to another night wouldn't matter. If they did, I think Saturday would be a good idea.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Well, if Eric Bischoff was in charge! (Which I know he never was, but hey)...

H.L.A. Hot Lesbian Action.... Well, not really, but I just remember that gimmick from 2003.

But, I think one thing that can help ratings is P.M.F... Passionate Mid-Card Feuds.

Before Triple H and Mick Foley were in the main event scene, one of there best matches was a steel cage match opening for Summer Slam in 97. The match was great, and the build up for that match was very good as well. It was an opening match/mid-card.

You need a mid-card you care about. The Rock was mid-card one time, before he became one of the top money makers in the business. You got to build these guys up, before you strap on an IC or US title on someone.

Val Venis comes to mind. He never made the main event squad, but his promos and feuds were something to remember. Some of it was dumb, and some of it was good. But you remember him, hell people would quote him the next day from Raw.

I don't get that from today's mid-card. Dolph Ziggler has boring promos, Zack Ryder's Woo Woo, isn't wooing anyone (Horrible pun but, it helps get the point across).

Now don't get me wrong, Danial Bryan got over, but it was the fans bond with him and the Yes Chant. His in-ring skills were great, but the "Yes" chant was what got him somewhere.

We don't have to give the mid-card a build up like Rock vs. Cena. But we can give them the time to do something. To get the point of the feud across, you need a good reason why two guys need to fight, and we need a promo to make the fight happen.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Great thread with great thoughts.

First, I have technical questions for anyone who ACTUALLY knows: Are the ratings and share based on estimates or actual numbers? In other words, how does "nielsen" or whoever does the ratings know that my TV is actually powered on and on a specific channel at a specific time? That seems like spying that would cause all kinds of problems, especially in America where we look for any reason to sue somebody. Also, how do they factor in DVR numbers? I record RAW on my DVR every week and sometimes I'll watch it live while it's recording, sometimes I'll watch parts of it and then go back later and watch the rest. My point is, how are they accounting for all this?


Secondly, on the marketing angle, I think WWE could do a much better job. I think they could create commercials/promos for PPVs or even for specific wrestlers or shows and air that stuff on network TV, especially during sports events, when they know a large target demographic is watching. I know every once in awhile you see a commercial for a PPV but I think a more targeted campaign would draw interest. For example, when The Rock was coming back and appearing, they should have had commercials (serious, funny, whatever) promoting that, on Fox, NBC, etc (hell, maybe even ESPN).

As wrestling fans, we know what the product is, and when know when the shows are coming up and who's on the roster. They don't need to cater marketing to us. They need to cater to people who aren't fans or who were fans but aren't anymore. That's why advertising during popular shows and sporting events is so crucial.

If I'm already watching RAW, what good is a commercial or promo telling me when Survivor Series is and what the the main event is? I already know that. But someone watching Monday Night football or a college game on Thursday night (or NFL game) may not know that.

 

[MillionDollarDream]

Get ready for the barrage of "Bring back the Attitude Era" responses because I'm sure they're coming. As much as some want to blame the decline on the PG rating, it's just not that simple, or accurate for that matter. Raw's ratings started to dip LONG before WWE officially went PG. They started to decline right when the Monday Night Wars ended and while WWE was still TV-14.

Pro wrestling isn't as popular as it once was and I highly doubt that there's anything that can be done to bring the ratings back into the 4s or 5s that were common during the Attitude Era. Even when WWE had The Rock on Raw regularly during WM season the past few years, they couldn't come close to those numbers. Wrestling was different, fans were different, society was different while WWF & WCW were presenting wrestling in a way that people hadn't seen before. Some of it was innovative and groundbreaking, while some of it was pure grade A shit. Both companies were genuinely competing with one another and wanted to run the other one out of business. When that ended, interest started to fade and continued to fade.

With the way things are now, a return to the Attitude Era probably wouldn't be met with open arms all in all. Look at the sort of reaction some segments & storylines that have definite AE undertones have been recieved. When Swagger & Colter debuted, social media lit up with people voicing outrage, accusing WWE of promoting racism and an anti-immigration stance. Then politicians and political blowhards like Glenn Beck got in on the act. Remember when CM Punk and Paul Heyman "mocked" Jerry Lawler's heart attack? Remember the outrage it drew from people, almost as though they felt like WWE was poking fun of heart attack victims who were family members? Jerry Lawler himself gave permission weeks earlier to go through with it. What about when Punk "disrespected" Paul Bearer and scattered his "ashes" over Taker's prone body? People absolutely freaked the fuck out over these things, forgetting or outright ignoring that they weren't Bearer's ashes, that Swagger & Colter aren't "real", that Bearer's grown sons okay'd the Punk/Taker segment. Fans were griping about it, as were dirtsheet writers, all while claiming that they've wanted to see something edgier on WWE for a long time. It's all scripted just like any scene from any other show on television. It's also a ridiculous double standard when you think about it. If a genuinely racist character popped up on Sons of Anarchy or had been on Breaking Bad, nobody'd bat an eye. They'd accept said character as just that, a fictional character. But, for some reason, WWE seems to be held to a different standard.

Raw has taken an especially hard hit this year and last year against Monday Night Football. Are some people simply disinterested? Sure, I'd be surprised otherwise. At the same time, according to various reports, Raw still continues to average in the mid 4 millions here in the states when DVR viewership is tablulated with live viewership. That's right where Raw has been for years now in terms of viewers in the US, though it's generally higher the first 4 to 6 months out of the year with DVR viewership pushing the average Raw to close to 5 million viewers.

A simple solution might be for WWE to move Raw to another night, possibly Tuesday as has been mentioned. Aside from Sons of Anarchy during the fall, WWE wouldn't really have very much competition on Tuesdays. Even so, SOA doesn't draw 10, 12, 15 million or more viewers like Monday Night Football does.

There's negative reaction to a group called "the real Americans" promoting racism and anti immigration because there's already so much of that going on real life that people actually have to deal with that really affects people. Non minorities seem to skip that when discussing why people were upset with that. You can be edgy and groundbreaking without having to resort to those levels. That was WWE doing whatever they could to get social media benchmarks even if it's bad publicity. Whatever keeps them "trending".

But then again with social media we have the ability to see peoples opinions in real time. We didn't have that sort of access during the Attitude Era to know what people were saying or if they were offended.

 

[5000]

I say improve it only a bit.Don't start a new era yet finish out the Universe Era until The Road To Wrestlemania.The night after or during(after Hunter def. ________/w/ Mr. McMahon) have Triple H announce it.Have John Cena finish up his t-shirt line and do a heel turn (only to give the next guy that spot as the #1 face).While they buld up Roman Reigns,CM Punk,Daniel Bryan,Cody Rhodes and Big E. Langston.Meanwhile Triple H is a face boss.Randy Orton remains heel.This gives that space to build up the next generation of stars.Call This era the Reality Era and have real life gimmicks.Ryback (bully),CM Punk (Corparate rebel),Big E (Bodybuilder,Non remorse face),Cody Rhodes (Only care about himself tweener),Daniel Bryan (Angry Goat),Roman Reigns (dangerous don't take no crap type guy;the face of the wwe.)Dean Ambrose (The new ultimate oppurunist;Edge type charactar heel),Seth Rollins (Crazy insane heel;that lashes out when he's not in control),Wyatts(keep them together for about 2 or 3 more years),Zack Ryder(time for a more serious gimmick have him as a brawler type dude),David Otunga (A-list badass charactar from 2010),Wade Barrett(charactar from 2010).But for know what the ratings have less HHH,Steph,Show,Orton,Cena and more tv time for the young stars.More Segments,when Cena's on TV more Cena brawls it seems to make him start losing the Cena suck chants(in which I bearly hear anymore)Have more gimmick matches.Have More Celebritys visit and get involved.etc.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The thing is that Monday is so much a part of the RAW brand that basically they would be slitting their own throats by moving it.

Their USP is that they are the "alternative" to Monday Night Football, while they're not going to get as many viewers, they are not magically gonna convert every viewer who watches MNF and DVR's RAW by putting it on Tuesday for example. They'd be splitting their viewers as things like Shield are now on that day... Kids might like John Cena, but they also like Marvel...

MNF is always going to be there and it's always going to take the lions share of viewership, during that time of year - and RAW picks up the slack during the off-season. It may get interesting if TV contracts go to different networks, here in the UK the Champions Leauge will be coming off of terrestrial TV soon and that deal was worth a killing - that will change the traditional viewing of those midweek days. If a Network ponied up and wanted RAW on a Saturday as a live show, would WWE do it? Possibly - or they'd just revive Main Event more likely...

They want a big deal for their rights and they will get far more than they currently do as despite numbers being "down" they are still the number 2 show on a Monday during football season. WWE does still deliver strongish numbers throughout the year so it's entirely possible that their next deal will be the one that cements PG, but more importantly the companies future or get Disney and the like interested in them... If Vince is gonna retire, he wants that big pay off and it's not hard to imagine him being very happy to sell to Disney rather than let it become a "wrestling show" again.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Your problem is you still look at ratings. It's 2013 dude. You wouldn't evaluate the Tude era by how many tweets they got. There's a reason wwe is possibly getting a huge TV deal and it's not because their ratings are 2.9. Ratings don't tell as much of the story as they once did as far as interest. Look at rating rankings and social media rankings. WWE still kills most other episodic tv in those.

 

[CCIV]

I think everyone hit a major point on the head on how success depends on a number of things but moving RAW from Monday's isn't one of them.

The poster who wrote about Foley/HHH and their feud hit a very important point. I believe story rules over everything.

As much crap as the WWE gets they do a few good things every week on raw but only the wrestling community is seeing it. Raw was better than Nitro for an entire year before the numbers started to reflect the change. It took people talking about what happened on Raw the night prior to get others to want to tune in and at the very least give it a viewing.

You have to combine the successful model used during The Attitude Era and Nitro. Fast paced action that is month long storytelling in and out of the ring. Celebrity involvement especially today much like what is happening on Twitter with celebs and the belts right now.

My main thing is the big storyline. The WWE shows glimpses of a great story but then it fizzles. The Authority and the ending of Raw a few months back showed me that sparkle but it didn't continue.

During the Attitude Era the whole roster was one. What I mean by that is that everyone was being elevated. Every match included someone the viewer cared about whether that individual was in the match or just ringside.

Foley, Kane, Outlaws, Edge, Christian, Hardys, Goldust, and so on were all involved in main event stories and the whole roster was one big interchangeable storybook. That to me is the key.

It seems like it takes a top group to make this type of full roster story to work ie DX, NWO, and that is why I have *Hogan, Heyman, Lesnar and The Shield* and *Undertaker/Wyatts* running Raw for 2014. These are the groups that create a full roster storyline full of possibilities.