[Official] Disco Nation

[Disco Sucks]

Russo had little to do with the Monday night wars?

Yes, he was a PRODUCT of the wars. He was part of it, but he didn't create it. You can't go out and simply re-create history. Russo's style was popular because it was something new (unless you're ECW whom he stole his style from), and because of the "Wars" which is something never before seen to the public, people tuned in. When people tuned in they were introduced to the "anything can happen" atmosphere and at this time really worked well. When ratings dropped because the "casual" fan said to themselves "well this was fun, but I'm not really a wrestling fan" they tuned out into their regularly scheduled programming. The rest who were left with the WWE still got that same edgy style left behind by the wars, but as ratings show, people were still tuning out more and more and more...

Once again, if you really think that Vince Russo can write on the same level as the writers for Grey's Anatomy and CSI to actually get casual viewers from those shows to watch TNA, you're out of your fucking mind.

 

[dzonewrestle1]

Yes, he was a PRODUCT of the wars. He was part of it, but he didn't create it. You can't go out and simply re-create history. Russo's style was popular because it was something new (unless you're ECW whom he stole his style from), and because of the "Wars" which is something never before seen to the public, people tuned in. When people tuned in they were introduced to the "anything can happen" atmosphere and at this time really worked well. When ratings dropped because the "casual" fan said to themselves "well this was fun, but I'm not really a wrestling fan" they tuned out into their regularly scheduled programming. The rest who were left with the WWE still got that same edgy style left behind by the wars, but as ratings show, people were still tuning out more and more and more...

Once again, if you really think that Vince Russo can write on the same level as the writers for Grey's Anatomy and CSI to actually get casual viewers from those shows to watch TNA, you're out of your fucking mind.

I agree the 96-99 style isn't new or fresh right now. It worked then. Russo deserves credit for his WWE days. He deserves heat for his WCW days. I'm smart enough to acklowledge his great WWF stuff and smart enough to know his WCW stuff sucked. I don't think Russo is a better writer than the CSI show or other shows. I just defended Disco on a few issues that he was right about and you were wrong on. Ur in the minority of negative filled wrestling fans who can't find anything to be happy about in WWE or TNA. I can name tons of great storylines and matches from TNA and WWE this past year. I love the wrestling business.

 

[Disco Sucks]

I agree the 96-99 style isn't new or fresh right now. It worked then. Russo deserves credit for his WWE days. He deserves heat for his WCW days. I'm smart enough to acklowledge his great WWF stuff and smart enough to know his WCW stuff sucked. I don't think Russo is a better writer than the CSI show or other shows. I just defended Disco on a few issues that he was right about and you were wrong on. Ur in the minority of negative filled wrestling fans who can't find anything to be happy about in WWE or TNA. I can name tons of great storylines and matches from TNA and WWE this past year. I love the wrestling business.

Where did you show that I was wrong on anything? Russo was apart of the WWF writing team. That hardly qualifies as him having a large role in the Monday Night Wars. He wasn't the cause of it, and if it weren't for ECW, he likely wouldn't have been involved at all. Russo did do some good stuff I'll give him credit where it's due, but the man isn't some booking/writing prodigy. Far from it.

...and I'm not so much full of negativity but disappointment. I know TNA could be better, but they have a wrestling bubble problem, the same problem the WWF had in 1994. They aren't really on the pulse of what works in the business. You can ask me how I know, and I'll simply say this: 1.2 rating for 2 years. If what was being done in TNA was genius, then they would be pulling in great ratings, but they aren't. This week was just a 1.0. That's hardly genius, or commendable. They aren't growing as a company as I feel they should. I mean this both in regards to how their wrestlers are marketed, their promotion is marketed, and their very non-risky business style which still has them stuck in Orlando entertaining tourists for the past 3-4 years. As New Jack said once, "TNA is a Disney Attraction" - Yes it's Universal Studios, but you get the point.

For the record, I love wrestling, but I love GOOD wrestling. I've even said that this latest iMPACT! was better than RAW this week, but overall it's nothing great. Nothing to tell my friends about. I'm watching other promotions as mentioned like Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate, CHIKARA, SHIMMER, etc...so it's not like my scope is down to two promotions, but what I see from TNA is potential, and they are flushing it away in my opinion.

....and dammit Glenn man up and address my previous post in response to your "what would you do for TNA?" post.

 

[BallsBallsBalls]

Where did you show that I was wrong on anything? Russo was apart of the WWF writing team. That hardly qualifies as him having a large role in the Monday Night Wars. He wasn't the cause of it, and if it weren't for ECW, he likely wouldn't have been involved at all. Russo did do some good stuff I'll give him credit where it's due, but the man isn't some booking/writing prodigy. Far from it.

...and I'm not so much full of negativity but disappointment. I know TNA could be better, but they have a wrestling bubble problem, the same problem the WWF had in 1994. They aren't really on the pulse of what works in the business. You can ask me how I know, and I'll simply say this: 1.2 rating for 2 years. If what was being done in TNA was genius, then they would be pulling in great ratings, but they aren't. This week was just a 1.0. That's hardly genius, or commendable. They aren't growing as a company as I feel they should. I mean this both in regards to how their wrestlers are marketed, their promotion is marketed, and their very non-risky business style which still has them stuck in Orlando entertaining tourists for the past 3-4 years. As New Jack said once, "TNA is a Disney Attraction" - Yes it's Universal Studios, but you get the point.

For the record, I love wrestling, but I love GOOD wrestling. I've even said that this latest iMPACT! was better than RAW this week, but overall it's nothing great. Nothing to tell my friends about. I'm watching other promotions as mentioned like Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate, CHIKARA, SHIMMER, etc...so it's not like my scope is down to two promotions, but what I see from TNA is potential, and they are flushing it away in my opinion.

....and dammit Glenn man up and address my previous post in response to your "what would you do for TNA?" post.

If WWE or TNA were to cater to fans like you who are die hard ROH, Dragon Gate, Chikara, Shimmer, etc then they would be in big trouble. I don't know about you but I got into wrestling because of the entertainment and story telling aspect of it. Having two guys wearing similar looking tights with no gimmick and working a pure wrestling style does not get my rocks off. You are in the minority my friend. If your taste in wrestling worked then all those promotions you like to watch would have TV and would actually draw a crowd instead of 300 people.

 

[hollyric]

Where did you show that I was wrong on anything? Russo was apart of the WWF writing team. That hardly qualifies as him having a large role in the Monday Night Wars. He wasn't the cause of it, and if it weren't for ECW, he likely wouldn't have been involved at all. Russo did do some good stuff I'll give him credit where it's due, but the man isn't some booking/writing prodigy. Far from it.

Whatever you saw on TV during the Attitude Era was because of him, so yes, he did have large part in the Monday night Wars.

...and I'm not so much full of negativity but disappointment. I know TNA could be better, but they have a wrestling bubble problem, the same problem the WWF had in 1994. They aren't really on the pulse of what works in the business. You can ask me how I know, and I'll simply say this: 1.2 rating for 2 years. If what was being done in TNA was genius, then they would be pulling in great ratings, but they aren't. This week was just a 1.0. That's hardly genius, or commendable. They aren't growing as a company as I feel they should. I mean this both in regards to how their wrestlers are marketed, their promotion is marketed, and their very non-risky business style which still has them stuck in Orlando entertaining tourists for the past 3-4 years. As New Jack said once, "TNA is a Disney Attraction" - Yes it's Universal Studios, but you get the point.

It's not just TNA, WWE is in this bubble as well. They've been averaging 3.5 for the past 6 years. How is ROH doing by the way? Are they growing?

For the record, I love wrestling, but I love GOOD wrestling. I've even said that this latest iMPACT! was better than RAW this week, but overall it's nothing great. Nothing to tell my friends about. I'm watching other promotions as mentioned like Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate, CHIKARA, SHIMMER, etc...so it's not like my scope is down to two promotions, but what I see from TNA is potential, and they are flushing it away in my opinion.

I agree that TNA should do something big, but the LAST thing they should is be like ROH. Just like Balls said you're in the minority, which I think is the reason why Samoa Joe and AJ will be heels in the big feud.

 

[Captain Cold]

Hello Mr. Gilberti,

I've been following your columns, and the brewing argument on this thread, with great interest and curiosity. While I don't always agree with what you write in your columns, you write them very well, and you've certainly challenged many of my assumptions about the way things work behind-the-scenes in a wrestling promotion such as TNA.

You've made a good number of valid points. However, I think the representatives of "the other side" in the argument have also raised some interesting questions, which I've yet to see you answer. So I find myself somewhat on the fence at the moment, unsure about what booking philosophy I feel is the "right" one.

I believe some of the people who have signed onto the forums to attack you aren't really being fair. They're getting into fights with you, even resorting to personal insults, without even having a view of the bigger picture. Fact of the matter is, unlike any of the rest of us, you ARE part of the TNA creative team, and so your view of what makes a successful wrestling product IS relevant to TNA's current and future direction. And so you posting on these forums offers an opportunity to discuss such relevant issues - and yes, perhaps raise concerns - but certain people are wasting that opportunity in order to try and "get one over" on you.

Admittedly, I'm new here, so I haven't followed the whole course of this discussion. But it seems to me, that something nobody has done so far, Mr. Gilberti, is give you the chance to lay out your own philosophy. Everyone's in such a rush to come in and talk about how they know what's best for TNA, and as a result you've been more preoccupied with explaining why you feel they are wrong. But what would interest me more, is gaining a fuller understanding of what YOU think would be best for TNA.

So, waffle aside, my actual point in posting is this. Mr. Gilberti, what would YOU do if you were head booker in TNA? What do you envision for TNA in the future? What do you think it should ultimately aspire to be, and what should it do to get there? What wrestlers should be the focal point of the promotion? What feuds/storylines do you think could generate the most interest amongst audiences? And on the subject of audiences, what audience do you think TNA should be catering to?

 

[dzonewrestle1]

If WWE or TNA were to cater to fans like you who are die hard ROH, Dragon Gate, Chikara, Shimmer, etc then they would be in big trouble. I don't know about you but I got into wrestling because of the entertainment and story telling aspect of it. Having two guys wearing similar looking tights with no gimmick and working a pure wrestling style does not get my rocks off. You are in the minority my friend. If your taste in wrestling worked then all those promotions you like to watch would have TV and would actually draw a crowd instead of 300 people.

Thank you, exactly. WWE does entertainment and wrestling almost perfectly. Thats why their #1. ROH has good mat wrestling and they sell lots of DVDs. However, a lot of ROH's guys end up going to either TNA or WWE cause they know thats where the real money & exposure is.

 

[gg inferno]

Hello Mr. Gilberti,

I've been following your columns, and the brewing argument on this thread, with great interest and curiosity. While I don't always agree with what you write in your columns, you write them very well, and you've certainly challenged many of my assumptions about the way things work behind-the-scenes in a wrestling promotion such as TNA.

You've made a good number of valid points. However, I think the representatives of "the other side" in the argument have also raised some interesting questions, which I've yet to see you answer. So I find myself somewhat on the fence at the moment, unsure about what booking philosophy I feel is the "right" one.

I believe some of the people who have signed onto the forums to attack you aren't really being fair. They're getting into fights with you, even resorting to personal insults, without even having a view of the bigger picture. Fact of the matter is, unlike any of the rest of us, you ARE part of the TNA creative team, and so your view of what makes a successful wrestling product IS relevant to TNA's current and future direction. And so you posting on these forums offers an opportunity to discuss such relevant issues - and yes, perhaps raise concerns - but certain people are wasting that opportunity in order to try and "get one over" on you.

Admittedly, I'm new here, so I haven't followed the whole course of this discussion. But it seems to me, that something nobody has done so far, Mr. Gilberti, is give you the chance to lay out your own philosophy. Everyone's in such a rush to come in and talk about how they know what's best for TNA, and as a result you've been more preoccupied with explaining why you feel they are wrong. But what would interest me more, is gaining a fuller understanding of what YOU think would be best for TNA.

So, waffle aside, my actual point in posting is this. Mr. Gilberti, what would YOU do if you were head booker in TNA? What do you envision for TNA in the future? What do you think it should ultimately aspire to be, and what should it do to get there? What wrestlers should be the focal point of the promotion? What feuds/storylines do you think could generate the most interest amongst audiences? And on the subject of audiences, what audience do you think TNA should be catering to?

read my archived articles and you should have a really good idea of my philosophy. no offense, but your last questions would take too long to answer for free.

 

[Zandrax]

I also hate the argument that McMahon 'filtered' Russo. Watch all the nudity, profanity, godfather, Val Venis getting his dick supposedly chopped off, storylines that got on air. Percy Pringle said for every 10 ideas Russo pitched to McMahon, McMahon accepted 9 of them, and he was mainly concerned with teh main characters of the show: Austin/Rock/Foley, etc... he might use Russo's ideas and tweak it and make it better - this was coming from Russo and he admired McMhaon for that

McMahon's genius is he surrounded himself with geniuses.. Mcmhaon didn't filter Russo. McMahon PROTECTED Russo.. there's a HUGE diffference. If anyone got in Russo's way, McMahon would protect Russo

Even Vince Russo says Vince Russo was filtered by McMahon, Marty. We've had this song and dance before. His very sales pitch to WCW was that he would be untamed and unfiltered and ready to write even better stuff that McMahon wouldn't let him do.

It's a cold, hard, documented FACT that you continue to ignore to a beyond ridiculous degree.

I dont know why the rating is always 1.0 but if they get peopel talking on a weekly basis, and maybe go agianst wwe, the business might be turned around.

Because TNA keeps living like it's 1998 and can't come up with anything new. Reality effects are what is in now. Make it believable and realistic with a reality TV touch. The more "out there" you get, the less believable it is and thus the more insulted the audience's intelligence is going to feel.

 

[Zandrax]

I also can't help but notice my previous notion of fine-tuning the show for the existing fanbase to turn out more buyrates hasn't been countered.

 

[gg inferno]

I also can't help but notice my previous notion of fine-tuning the show for the existing fanbase to turn out more buyrates hasn't been countered.

what do you mean by fine-tuning?

 

[richyque1]

Tna needs to take impact on the road cause the Disney's studios is a big turn off to the casual fan, It makes it look minor league.

 

[Zandrax]

what do you mean by fine-tuning?

Simple. TNA has proven to have a built-in audience of 1.2-1.5 million people (approximately) that tune in every week. This is an audience many prime-time cable shows would kill for. There doesn't need to be any massive overhaul to attract viewers, they're already there. Has TNA ever stopped to think that if they look into what their viewers expect in a PPV, they can get 30-50 thousand extra PPV buys?

What you have are 1.5 million "window shoppers" every week. Any business worth their wait in bantha poodoo looks into turning their potential customers into paying customers. Clearly there is enough interest in the product for it to earn respectable prime-time ratings. It's common sense to try to turn that built in fanbase into PPV buyers.

Just so we're clear, this is the previous post I was talking about

I really don't see how fine tuning your product to get an extra 30,000-50,000 buys out of the existing fanbase is so stupid. Wouldn't that equate to an extra 300 grand or so a month? A $3 million revenue boost?

Ratings are good for the station, but I think living and dying by ratings monitoring is a byproduct of the Monday Night Wars. There is no wrestling on Thursday Nights to switch over to during a bad segment. So why make the show so frantic paced?

Sure there are other revenue streams, but I think PPV buys are what gives the most potential return on investment. I fail to understand where "getting recognized in clubs" is more important from a business standpoint.

And as for UFC, it was "real" years ago when it was going bankrupt. Dana White will freely admit that he was inspired by pro-wrestling from a marketing standpoint. The "It makes money because it's real" argument doesn't fly. It makes money because it's marketed well.

 

[Zandrax]

Tna needs to take impact on the road cause the Disney's studios is a big turn off to the casual fan, It makes it look minor league.

It's Universal Studios, and not Disney.

 

[Shadowmancer]

pole matches

This is the one thing that we don't need anymore of, the entire point of them is inane and points to a lack of idea for a match that is gimmicked. I just have a hatred for pole matches they serve no purpose for me. And you can get stupid things for pole matches like a Pink Slip on a Pole match.

As for the person saying iMPACT! needs to go on the Road, it doesn't need to go on the road yet. The only things that TNA should be putting on the Road are House Shows and PPVs. Why PPVs in a different location? because it changes the fans up from the usual and it is a relatively smaller cost than putting iMPACT! on the road. I have not seen the figures that WWE operates to keep the three shows on the road, but I expect it to be a truely exorbitant amount.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

Glenn, I think what Zandrax wants is more wrestling on the free TV show with the belief that giving away clean long wrestling matches on television with wrestling-focused storylines that this would make the "current fanbase" who if they're not already buying the PPVs, will not in the future, fork out cash to buy the PPVs

(yeah, i know it's one of the stupidest things i've ever heard also but some people want a show that doesn't draw to suit their personal preferences)

He doesn't think that growing your TV audience will lead to potential buys. I'd love for you to comment on it

 

[Captain Cold]

read my archived articles and you should have a really good idea of my philosophy. no offense, but your last questions would take too long to answer for free.

Oh well, perhaps those questions could be fodder for a future column?

Something else you said that interested me, is that these iMPACT promos from Sting are the first two weeks of what is set to be a 9 month storyline. By today's pro wrestling standards, that's pretty epic. Especially when you consider TNA have been foreshadowing this for 9 months already, arguably ever since Samoa Joe's promo from Turning Point 07. Do you think this could be the big storyline that really connects with fans and helps elevate TNA to the next level?

I think there's certainly a chance it could be. See, at first I too was angry about Sting's promo, as I disagreed with a whole lot of what he was saying. And I was even angrier with the Orlando crowd for cheering him and booing Joe/Styles. But then I thought - isn't this the point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've gathered watching so far, the central crux of the storyline is going to be: the wrestlers on the roster must "choose a side", and so must the fans. So the fact that many fans view Sting as the face here, while others view him as the heel, isn't a failure on the part of the TNA booking team, but rather everything going to plan.

I've seen a few people complain about the storyline being "confusing", and saying that TNA should adopt simpler storylines like the kind seen in ROH. Now, I'm not about to bash ROH, as I happen to think they can do very good storylines. But from a storyline perspective, quite possibly their finest hour was the ROH VS CZW promotion war. And basically, it was the same idea as TNA's new generation VS old generation story! In some locations, the fans would boo the ROH guys and cheer the CZW guys, in other locations, they'd cheer the ROH guys and boo the CZW guys. So for fans to praise that storyline as genius, and in the next breath condemn THIS storyline as too confusing before it even gets started, seems to me to be somewhat of a double-standard.

So, I'm going to keep an open mind about TNA's big storyline. Though I do have some reservations. Namely, I hope that the current reactions in Orlando - treating Joe and Styles like the heels - doesn't force TNA to ditch the moral ambiguity and make the young guys the heels. Though at the same time, I don't think Sting should turn outright heel either. Sting did a good promo justifying his viewpoints, but Samoa Joe and AJ Styles also did really good promos justifying themselves this past week. And I think when TNA goes to places like Canada for No Surrender, or Chicago for Bound For Glory, it could be a VERY different story when it comes to who's getting cheered and who's getting booed. I think the storyline works best when there's heels and faces on both sides of the fence, and so the fans aren't being spoonfed or told what to think, and instead have to choose who to side with.

 

[Captain Cold]

Glenn, I think what Zandrax wants is more wrestling on the free TV show with the belief that giving away clean long wrestling matches on television with wrestling-focused storylines that this would make the "current fanbase" who if they're not already buying the PPVs, will not in the future, fork out cash to buy the PPVs

(yeah, i know it's one of the stupidest things i've ever heard also but some people want a show that doesn't draw to suit their personal preferences)

He doesn't think that growing your TV audience will lead to potential buys. I'd love for you to comment on it

With all due respect, Marty, I don't think Zandrax has said that at all. I mean, looking at his most recent post, and the one he quoted, not once does he mention that iMPACT should just be dominated by long, story-free wrestling matches.

And from what I gather, he's not so much saying a growing TV audience won't lead to more PPV buys. Rather, he seems to be saying that there's already a lot of people watching the TV show that aren't buying the PPVs, so TNA might want to look into how they can entice these "viewers" into becoming "buyers".

 

[Zandrax]

With all due respect, Marty, I don't think Zandrax has said that at all. I mean, looking at his most recent post, and the one he quoted, not once does he mention that iMPACT should just be dominated by long, story-free wrestling matches.

And from what I gather, he's not so much saying a growing TV audience won't lead to more PPV buys. Rather, he seems to be saying that there's already a lot of people watching the TV show that aren't buying the PPVs, so TNA might want to look into how they can entice these "viewers" into becoming "buyers".

That is exactly what I am saying. Marty and I go way back. One of the fallacies he never seems to shake about me is that I want Impact to be 90% wrestling matches with no character development or storylines. And that's simply not true.

Now granted, there is plenty of room for character development during a match, but naturally storylines are important.

You are also spot on in that I'm not saying there can't be growth. I am simply saying tap in to your already existing fanbase. Make them eager to purchase PPVs, which in turn will excite them to get more people watching.

After all, we all know what the greatest form of advertising is, right?

 

[gg inferno]

shadow is right. tna doesn't have the budget to go on the road yet. things like that cost money. as for the sting angle, i see on the web that people are burying it after two weeks because they think sting should've cut a "heel" promo instead of speaking from the heart. just remember, this is a long angle that is going to pose alot of questions to the viewer. why was the joker such a great heel in the dark knight? because alot of stuff he said made perfect sense, and you hated him more for it.

zandrax, i still don't know what specifically you mean by fine-tuning. it's like i took my car to you to get fixed and you said it needs fixing. i asked what needs to be done to it, and you said "work." if you have specific things that tna should do, then contribute them instead of being so ambiguous and general.

 

[Zandrax]

zandrax, i still don't know what specifically you mean by fine-tuning. it's like i took my car to you to get fixed and you said it needs fixing. i asked what needs to be done to it, and you said "work." if you have specific things that tna should do, then contribute them instead of being so ambiguous and general.

To be honest Mr. Gilbertti, I find it difficult to believe that trying to touch base with your fanbase to get feedback on what could be improved is such an unusual concept.

If TNA did a little homework (as in got in touch with PPV providers) they should be able to get a list of the people that bought PPVs in the past. Seems to me a survey could be made from there, asking how many PPVs they bought, and what inspired them to do so. If they stopped buying PPVs, why?

Don't just rely on pops in the Impact Zone. Open up to the fans either through the website or through conventional means. TNA Street Team members I'm sure have friends that aren't into TNA, but like WWE or other promotions. What would make them interested in TNA? Have they sampled the product? And if so what did they like and not like?

Surely you've heard the overwhelmingly positive reviews of TNA house shows? Just about every review I've read praises TNA for house shows, and about how intimate and responsive everybody is to the crowd. It certainly seems like a great opportunity to get more feedback from fans on what fans want to see on Impact.

This is all stuff pretty much off the top of my head. This is common sense to anybody wanting to expand their business. And the Return On Investment is quite lucrative with PPV. Sure it takes getting some elbows dirty but if even 30-50,000 PPV buys are won out of this, it's literally millions in the bank in a year.

 

[gg inferno]

To be honest Mr. Gilbertti, I find it difficult to believe that trying to touch base with your fanbase to get feedback on what could be improved is such an unusual concept.

If TNA did a little homework (as in got in touch with PPV providers) they should be able to get a list of the people that bought PPVs in the past. Seems to me a survey could be made from there, asking how many PPVs they bought, and what inspired them to do so. If they stopped buying PPVs, why?

Don't just rely on pops in the Impact Zone. Open up to the fans either through the website or through conventional means. TNA Street Team members I'm sure have friends that aren't into TNA, but like WWE or other promotions. What would make them interested in TNA? Have they sampled the product? And if so what did they like and not like?

Surely you've heard the overwhelmingly positive reviews of TNA house shows? Just about every review I've read praises TNA for house shows, and about how intimate and responsive everybody is to the crowd. It certainly seems like a great opportunity to get more feedback from fans on what fans want to see on Impact.

This is all stuff pretty much off the top of my head. This is common sense to anybody wanting to expand their business. And the Return On Investment is quite lucrative with PPV. Sure it takes getting some elbows dirty but if even 30-50,000 PPV buys are won out of this, it's literally millions in the bank in a year.

complete waste of time. the only way to increase your revenue stream, it's been shown in most businesses, is to increase your market base, which in this case would be the fans that watch the show, and expansion worldwide. i mean honestly think of how many fans you would have to contact to even take a survey to begin with. it's difficult enough to get the ppv providers to give the exact numbers. the funniest thing is you're talking about ways for tna to make more money, yet you have zero point zero idea of how much money they're making, which would totally negate your concept of spending money on market research, because you don't have any clue what a suggested budget would be. what business are you in? let me know so i could give you some suggestions on how to make more money.

 

[absent]

the only way to increase your revenue stream, it's been shown in most businesses, is to increase your market base, which in this case would be the fans that watch the show, and expansion worldwide

That would be "existing product to a new market", equal to that in business terms is "new product to an existing market", arguably what TNA has already one, but personally I feel they've diluted that in recent years without fulfilling it's potential. Keeping extisting customers is even more important than seeking new customers in longterm business stratergies because without that you eventually hit a ceiling unless you can sustain a really high customer turnover rate, and even then, it must eventually peak somewhere, nothing is infinit

edit: of course there's also "existing product to an existing market" which is very hard to do and you might say in a wider scope of things TNA has also already achieved, kudos to them, but then they were very different to WWE (which is an arguable point these days) and looking more focused within wrestling from a business point of view if it was me I'd want to pitch it as "new product to an existing market".

 

[Marty2Hotty]

complete waste of time. the only way to increase your revenue stream, it's been shown in most businesses, is to increase your market base, which in this case would be the fans that watch the show, and expansion worldwide. i mean honestly think of how many fans you would have to contact to even take a survey to begin with. it's difficult enough to get the ppv providers to give the exact numbers. the funniest thing is you're talking about ways for tna to make more money, yet you have zero point zero idea of how much money they're making, which would totally negate your concept of spending money on market research, because you don't have any clue what a suggested budget would be. what business are you in? let me know so i could give you some suggestions on how to make more money.

Owned by Glenn.. however.. i didn't read zandrax's posts. Glenn. this guy had a huge debate with me on another forum and lost so badly.... it was hilarious.. there was talk on buyrates, he thinks Russo doesn't amount to anything, yet when i showed him that Russo boosted the ratings/buys in WWF, he couldn't reply.

He wants a show similar to the LockDown hype.. where Angle/Joe are in a wrestling-esque storyline only and promos are done the same as Global Impact.. and there is lack of entertainment.

The long argument was whether high ratings contribute to higher revenue/buys. It went for 20 pages and he was obliterated.. I think i sent you a link to the thread I don't remember.. but i dont want to rehash that entire argument

I agree that he didn't get into any specifics about what is needed, and he wouldn't know because TNA is making money right now.. WWE is doing 150,000 buys with 3 shows and 3.5 rating..

He also used the UFC does 1.0 and 400,000 buys and TNA has 1.0 and does only 35,000 buys many times... You already addressed the UFC point as did I months ago..

Zandrax has no knowledge of how much TNA is making.. and has no idea what the masses enjoy or why each of the 35,000 peopel buy PPVs. Even when WWF was doing 7.0 and the buys were through the roof, do you honestly want to ask each person why they bought the PPV vs the time when they were doing 1.9 and the buys were miniscule compared to what they were doing by the end of Russo's WWF reign?

It's pretty obvious: higher ratings (visibily higher) leads to higher potential to earn money. hence the reason people advertise on superbowl

 

[Zandrax]

complete waste of time. the only way to increase your revenue stream, it's been shown in most businesses, is to increase your market base, which in this case would be the fans that watch the show, and expansion worldwide. i mean honestly think of how many fans you would have to contact to even take a survey to begin with. it's difficult enough to get the ppv providers to give the exact numbers. the funniest thing is you're talking about ways for tna to make more money, yet you have zero point zero idea of how much money they're making, which would totally negate your concept of spending money on market research, because you don't have any clue what a suggested budget would be. what business are you in? let me know so i could give you some suggestions on how to make more money.

So why is it any game I buy has a feedback flyer in it? Why is it just about any restaurant I go to they ask me how I enjoyed the food and if I was happy?

I honestly don't think a few thousand flyers, or a mass e-mail web survey would cost as much as you're implying it would. There are Ma n' Pa businesses that have piles of them.

It's unfathomable that a business would not want to look into its core fanbase to get genuine feedback. When you do, then you know what areas are best to pursue for expansion. If you don't you're basically turning a blind eye and just hoping for the best.