Should the WWE Change Their Television Time to 8pm?

[Milkyway!]

Ratings tend to drop off in the last hour according to the general WrestleZone ratings reports. What if the WWE started RAW at 8. They're targeting children, and I simply think most children go to bed early these days.

So what do you think, should the WWE start at 8 and finish at 10?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Ratings tend to drop off in the last hour according to the general WrestleZone ratings reports. What if the WWE started RAW at 8. They're targeting children, and I simply think most children go to bed early these days.

So what do you think, should the WWE start at 8 and finish at 10?

First off, the statement about targeting children is idiotic. I don't know if you're trying to come off cool by taking a jab at WWE, if it's a tired jab at the PG rating or if you're just misinformed. Either way, it doesn't work. Raw typically is the highest drawing show on Monday nights among adult men, which makes up roughly 80% of the WWE Raw audience in and of itself according to tvbythenumbers.com.

As to the topic of the thread, Raw numbers don't always drop off during the second hour. It has for 4 of the past 5 weeks, which is something that's expected now that the WrestleMania season is over with. There are peaks and valleys when it comes to ratings. The past 4 of 5 weeks, for instance, TNA has drawn under a 1.0 rating for their entire show. As tonight is the go home show to Over The Limit, the second hour will probably outdraw the first one. It also sometimes depends upon the content of the second hour, some just might not be interested in what's coming up.

Changing the timeslot would probably only diminish Raw's ratings. The three hour Raw shows have shown that, the VAST majority of the time, the 8 pm hour draws considerably less than Raw's regular timeslot. There are other things on that people are watching perhaps at that time. While people's viewing habits could possibly change if Raw did move to an hour earlier, why mess with a winning formula? Raw is among the highest drawing shows on cable, sometimes the top drawing show on cable television, so there's no reason for a change in timeslot.

 

[DannyDirtz]

Raw typically is the highest drawing show on Monday nights among adult men, which makes up roughly 80% of the WWE Raw audience in and of itself according to tvbythenumbers.com.

.

i dont believe that for a second , the wwe's core audience target are families and children , regardless of the PG rating or not , the content itself including special guest like the muppets and the 3 stooges are aimed at kids and families.

that being said if the main ratings , 80% of which were grown adult men then theres something wrong in the world.

IMO

 

[randomguyri]

it should start earlier

how many parents really let their 8 year olds stay up to 11pm watching tv?
and it seem's to e the age group wwe was trying to target for awhile

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Maybe back during the height of the PG era a move to 8 would have been an option. But things seem to be shifiting and the product is entering an inbetween phase. Kinda like pre attitude WWF in 95 and 96. No real need for a move now as the product is starting to get some edge to it.

Once Eve starts coming out in some tighter, shorter, more revealing "assistant outfits" then we know where moving away from PG for good.

 

[The Champ]

It doesn't make a lick of difference to me, but if I had to pick I would probably go for 8 PM, simply because it would mean I get to go to bed earlier.

As for if it would make a significant difference in the ratings? Doubtful. SmackDown is on from eight to ten, and even when it was on Thursday, it never really got the ratings that Raw gets.

I think people should just stop worrying so much about the ratings and realize that they're going to fluctuate no matter what. Just because Raw ratings have dropped off in the last hour for maybe a month doesn't mean it's going to be that way forever. If anything, the aforementioned SmackDown ratings are much more of a concern, and could be easily remedied by taking the show off Fridays. But WWE seems to be unreasonably stubborn in that regard.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

My understanding is that Americans like to go to work early and leave early. That said if let's say the average person wakes up at 5 am to 6 am, I would say people would doze off my the time hour #2.

When I was in the US for business for 2 months I tend to doze off around 10 pm. So yeah maybe moving RAW an hour or two early might help.

Though I guess this only applies on the EST. So having an earlier start time might affect the West Coast.

 

[brighamosity]

I live in Washington, to Raw starts at 6 PM for me. I've got no complaints. But when I used to live on the east coast, I would either DVR it and watch it the next day, or be really tired the next morning. So I'd be completely OK with the move, but I doubt it'd be the best thing for ratings.

 

[SydTinDad]

Personally, I think Raw should be a 3 hour live show from 8-11 in an effort to add more actual WRESTLING instead of bullshit back stage nonsense, replays of "what just happened in the last hour", and all that other bullshit.

What happened to showcasing actual "wrestling"?

At least, that's my take on it.

 

[Principino]

I don't know how ratings are for Monday Night RAW in the UK but an earlier time slot would be very beneficial for us, RAW starts at 2am here, hardly the ideal time. Considering the UK is the second biggest market for the WWE (I think), they should go for an earlier time slot so it's easier for us to watch the show live. Personally, I very rarely stay up that late for RAW, in fact I can't remember the last time I did so, whereas Smackdown is at a more reasonable time of 10/11pm so I usually catch it, even though RAW is head and shoulders above Smackdown in terms of quality.

 

[KNPKH2ster]

I'm not sure if changing Raw to an 8 PM slot right now is a good idea. I know the Monday Night Raw slot from 9-11 is definitely benefitting the DVR viewers, especially the 2nd half of Raw. During the months of when I have to wake up early, I would watch the first half of Raw, DVR the second half and watch it later in the week (sometimes I would DVR the entire show in case if I'm not home that night).

Now that I have summer break from college, I would most likely watch the entire show from start to finish.

 

[Maikeru_1979]

Personally, I think Raw should be a 3 hour live show from 8-11 in an effort to add more actual WRESTLING instead of bullshit back stage nonsense, replays of "what just happened in the last hour", and all that other bullshit.

What happened to showcasing actual "wrestling"?

At least, that's my take on it.

forget that WWE isn't a wrestling company anymore, they are an entertainment company. they ain't wrestlers in wwe remember they are superstars> Vince & the rest of the E don't want to be associated with pro wrestling anymore. so that is why we get so much crap & not as many wrestling matches anymore.

and you really think that if they went 3 hours every week that anything would change. i know they don't when they do the 3 hour specials

 

[LegendKiller123]

Im from the UK and yeah your right The Uk is the second biggest market for WWE Raw comes on at 2am here #WTF that pisses me orff and i cant be botherd watching it live because 1)its at 2am and 2) tooo many advertisements it will be alrite if they lower the time by 1hour so it comes on here at 1am then i might stick around watching if not i will do what i always do record it then watch it the next day

 

[ECW Sandman]

If I remember right WWF Prime Time Wrestling was on from 9 to 11 back in the 80's til early 93.

So why would you change the time slot of the show ? It's a good time slot and like what KNPKH2ster said we have DVR now you can record it and watch the first half of Raw at night til you have to go to bed and watch the other half the next day or a few days after. WWE is not going to change time slots just for the hell of it.

Plus the only time WWE has it on at 8 is for the 3 hour special, people who watch wrestling probably watch something else at 8 PM on Monday Nights and would probably get pissed choosing what to watch at the time slot so in all honesty dude it's not that big of a deal that it's on at 9 PM or not.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The three hour Raw shows have shown that, the VAST majority of the time, the 8 pm hour draws considerably less than Raw's regular timeslot.

That's the big unknown, which also involves the greatest risk in a TV program shifting time slots. I believe the reason the occasional 3-hour shows do poorly at 8PM is because casual fans don't realize that Raw is being broadcast at that time on that evening. If the shift to 8PM were permanent, everyone would eventually get the idea and adjust their viewing patterns. Then, on those rare times when Raw goes 3 hours, the extended period would be the 10-11PM slot.....and the company would capture that audience because they've already got 'em.

One reason I can see moving to 8PM is that during football season, ESPN begins their NFL broadcast 1/2 hour earlier than Raw, causing many football/wrestling fans to stick with whatever they tuned into first. If Raw started at 8PM, they would get first crack at those viewers and, hopefully, keep many of them.

Switching time slots involves factors only network executives understand; I certainly don't have the knowledge necessary to make a determination. Personally, I'll be watching Raw whether they run at 8-10 or 9-11.

 

[Remy LaCroix]

LOL Oh you east coasters, thinking the stars and planets revolve around y'all.

After reading a couple of posts by Europeans it seems it might benefit them since they have to stay up late to watch it live. I sure as hell wouldn't do that since I could DVR it and avoid spoilers for a day. Don't know how much this'll impact the west coast population and people who watch Raw on MST. Oh well, the latter will get by.

Three-hour Raw episodes will suck though.

CST! CST! CST!

 

[Pedigree1]

I dont think moving raw to 8 PM would help any. Ratings typically drop off within the second hour or sometimes the second outdraws the first depending on the content or whatever. As Jackhammer said 80% makes up the audience and us at home!! It is the most watched program among men so changing it wont help anything at all.

I live on the west coast so 6PM is fine with me i always DVR it anyway. Smackdown though is also fine with me! Good time and it ends before anything cool happens on a friday night anyway. WWE is pg while an edgy PG it gives us something all to enjoy but thats another thread in itself.

so i guess in conclusion don't fix whats not broken

 

[Ry.the_Stunner]

Primetime television typically starts at 8 PM, so they'd be competing with a lot more popular shows too.

 

[sufyaan05]

I'm all for them moving it a couple of hours earlier, 6pm would be perfect.

Would mean it would air in the UK from 11 and finish at 1:15.

Win win

 

[The Champ]

I'm all for them moving it a couple of hours earlier, 6pm would be perfect.

Would mean it would air in the UK from 11 and finish at 1:15.

Win win

6 PM is far too early, a lot of people wouldn't be home from work yet. Plus the people who are would most likely be eating dinner.

I do feel bad for the UK'ers who have to stay up ridiculously late to watch it, but it's simply a problem that can't be truly remedied. Ratings for a 6-8 PM Raw would be way worse than they are now.

 

[Encoded]

I don't think it would be a good move since people in the central time zone might not catch the start of the show because of dinner since it would be on at 7pm.

 

[Nate DaMac]

First off, the statement about targeting children is idiotic. I don't know if you're trying to come off cool by taking a jab at WWE, if it's a tired jab at the PG rating or if you're just misinformed. Either way, it doesn't work. Raw typically is the highest drawing show on Monday nights among adult men, which makes up roughly 80% of the WWE Raw audience in and of itself according to tvbythenumbers.com.

I think you're overreacting a bit, home-slice. It didn't sound like a jab at the PG Era or whatever to me, just a casual observation. A lot of kids watch wrestling and staying up until 11 (hell actually it's more like 11:20 most Mondays) to watch wrestling is probably not going to be allowed in most households. I highly doubt any TV ratings will come back showing that kids are there major demographic, seeing as little kids can't get cable bills in their names. There's no way to track that.

With that in mind, I would say it would be a good idea. However, I have very little knowledge of the current ratings patterns with the WWE so I'd refrain from making any bold statements like that.

Fuck if I care. It already starts at 8 for me and I don't have to miss How I Met Your Mother to watch it. I'm good with it as it is.

 

[H33LTurn]

It shouldnt change. RAW's always had that edgy late night feel to it. When there are 3 hour RAWs the first hour always feels like a drag. Tie that into the fact that its a monday and people are just getting back to their regular schedules and you'll understand that a lot of people, including myself, are rushing to get things done that hour before RAW starts.

 

[Defekt]

I think you're overreacting a bit, home-slice. I highly doubt any TV ratings will come back showing that kids are there major demographic, seeing as little kids can't get cable bills in their names. There's no way to track that.

Ratings aren't compiled based on who pays bills. It's more complicated in that. They are able to track what children watch just as easily as adults.