Show Me The Money: by TheOneBigWill

[TheOneBigWill]

Show Me The Money by TheOneBigWill

One week removed from Mr. McMahon breaking the news that he'll be giving away the sum of One Million Dollars, it was announced on this week's edition of Monday Night Raw how to sign up, and why this "sweepstakes" has come into light. The first step in signing up is the agreement that you have to have a working internet, a working telephone, and you must pay attention to the W.W.E. television programming throughout this week, and especially next Monday Night. From what I understand, next Monday night will be the night he gives away this money.

He'll randomly place phone calls throughout the Raw telecast and if you're lucky enough to receive one of these phone calls, you MUST know a secret code number and give it to him at that time. If you followed these steps correctly, you'll be a little bit richer by the end of the phone conversation.

Mr. McMahon feels that by giving away the sum of One Million to multiple viewers, randomly, that he'll attract those who quit watching wrestling and its also a way to say thank you to those that still do watch wrestling. Now with this, I already see the major flaw in his plan.

The first negative in all of this is, if this whole "sweepstakes" ends next Monday night. Logically that means he'll only get next Monday's show to be the "big rating" show. Whats the point of next Monday night being it? Whats so special about June 9th? I'd assume if this were a ploy to grab higher ratings, this would be an event that spanned from now until the draft lottery, ending on the same night. Furthermore, I would highly expect it to not just accure on Monday Night Raw, but instead on all three televised events.

If the logic behind giving away money to "dedicated" and "loyal" W.W.E. wrestling fans, wouldn't you want to do it to those that watch all three shows? To those that are willing to watch all three shows? Instead, from what I understand (and its still early) is that you sign up (multiple times, if you choose) throughout this week.. and everything ends on next Monday's Raw, in which throughout the night he'll (McMahon) be placing several phone calls to likely winners.

The second flaw I see in this problem is, its all about the "mon-eyy" to Mr. McMahon, but its more about the ratings to him. He just wants to see his television show jump/boost in ratings. But once the "mon-eyy" is gone, wouldn't those who didn't watch before, quit watching again? Which would result in the ratings also going, again? So giving away money might help for a week or two, hell it might even help for a month, or however long he plans on giving it away.. but the second he stops giving it away, its not going to magically make his show "better" and result in those who didn't watch before, staying to watch after.

In my opinion, McMahon has a blind eye to why his show is lacking in the ratings. Giving away the sum of a Million Dollars isn't going to help his overall product get better. The show's ratings aren't high, because the show sucks. Money give-a-ways might help boost slightly, but not for any good reason. Only because hes questionably giving away money.

Furthermore, in my own mind.. I wouldn't see someone like myself ever winning this money. Sure I'd love to, if it were real, but I won't be shocked when next Monday night comes and my phone doesn't ring with McMahon and money on the other end. And I'm almost 99.9% sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. We all tune in regularly and watch wrestling because we love it, and now we see "a Million Dollars" sitting there waiting to be "given away."

But the odds of any of us winning it are very slim to none. So is this truly a way to say thank you to the truly loyal wrestling fans? Or is it just a slap in all of our faces for putting up with the horrible shit thats went on through storylines, while some prick who randomly heard of this.. and watched for a week gets incredibly lucky?

I'd rather see someone like Eric Bischoff or Steve Austin come back as General Manager of Raw. Or the Brand Extention to end, or any number of shocking "storyline" related things happen.. to increase my overally pleasure of viewing wrestling completely, then randomly get my hopes up that on one night, my phone could ring.. and instead of it being a bill collector, its a guy wanting to give me money for watching something I love.

In closing, I'd like to say that I have indeed signed up to this false prophet of sorts. While 99.9% of me is damn sure I won't be getting that so-called magical phone call, .01% of me holds out hope that I might be rewarded in some fashion, for watching the business that I love, for the passed 15-16 years. I will say this, however, I do not believe this will help their ratings boost in any manner. Least of all stay up, to where giving the money away meant anything in the first place. While I might hold false hope for winning money, I'll continue to hold even more endlessly false hope that wrestling might one day return to how great it was in years gone by.

 

[chasingamy]

My understanding of how this will work is that the contest will last 8 weeks with the total amount given away being one million dollars. There will be one lucky winner via phone call by Mr. McMahon each week during the RAW broadcast. There will be one check for $250,000, two checks for $200,000, one check for $125,000, one check for $98,000, one check for $75,000, one check for $51,998, and one check for a mere $2 (yes, that is correct 2 bucks!). Yesterday Ryan Clark posted all the sweepstakes details on the WZ main site under the headline “WWE's Million $ Giveaway: Enter Now, Rules, Amounts”.

I too signed up for a chance to win. I’ve got nothing to lose other than the few seconds it takes to register and I’ll be watching the show anyway like usual. I’m 99.99% certain that if I were to get a lucky phone call it would be the slap in the face, is up with that, $2 payout. That is just my “luck”.

In no way, shape, or form is this is a way to reward the true, loyal, diehard WWE fans (e.g., those of us that shell out our hard-earned money for monthly PPVs, sit through three shows a week, and defend the product to our friends/family). If they wanted to target real WWE fans, then they would not be promoting the contest so much before it even starts. For example, the Associated Press ran the story yesterday. Today Yahoo.com had an article about it. WWE even held a press conference on it this afternoon.

If they truly wanted to show their “appreciation” for us – the real WWE fans- they’d make the caller at the very least answer a question about something that’s happened recently on the program. That way the winner would have to be a regular viewer/fan. The way they are going about this means someone that doesn’t watch wrestling whatsoever can sign up and tune in only for the first few minutes of RAW to get the special “code” then not have to watch the rest of the program (let alone the other two shows) and wind up the winner.

I agree this is merely an attempt to boost the ratings, but I don’t think it will help as much as they're hoping. For the next 6 or 7 weeks, the ratings should go up, but I don’t think they will be higher than a 4.0. In the long run, this is not what will “save” Raw’s ratings. This contest is merely a band-aid quick ratings fix.

 

[Danmen001]

Show Me The Money by TheOneBigWill

One week removed from Mr. McMahon breaking the news that he'll be giving away the sum of One Million Dollars, it was announced on this week's edition of Monday Night Raw how to sign up, and why this "sweepstakes" has come into light. The first step in signing up is the agreement that you have to have a working internet, a working telephone, and you must pay attention to the W.W.E. television programming throughout this week, and especially next Monday Night. From what I understand, next Monday night will be the night he gives away this money.

Sounds good, and luck would have it that Australian veiwers are not eligible. Lucky me. The stipulations, are just a way to bring up the WWE.com hits first off, then increase the ratings for a short period of time.

He'll randomly place phone calls throughout the Raw telecast and if you're lucky enough to receive one of these phone calls, you MUST know a secret code number and give it to him at that time. If you followed these steps correctly, you'll be a little bit richer by the end of the phone conversation.

Does sound like it will bring the ratings up temporarily, although never heard about the code number. I assume they decided not to broadcast this in Australia, because we can't get it anyway. Not sure how well this 'fan interaction' thing will work out though.

Mr. McMahon feels that by giving away the sum of One Million to multiple viewers, randomly, that he'll attract those who quit watching wrestling and its also a way to say thank you to those that still do watch wrestling. Now with this, I already see the major flaw in his plan.

I don't see how it will rreally every increase the ratings. What it will do, is bring in people who haven't watched wrestling before. They might get hooked with the program, and the ratings will go up. People might come back to watch wrestling, in the same situation as above.

The first negative in all of this is, if this whole "sweepstakes" ends next Monday night. Logically that means he'll only get next Monday's show to be the "big rating" show. Whats the point of next Monday night being it? Whats so special about June 9th? I'd assume if this were a ploy to grab higher ratings, this would be an event that spanned from now until the draft lottery, ending on the same night. Furthermore, I would highly expect it to not just accure on Monday Night Raw, but instead on all three televised events.

From my understanding of the situation, it will end, when Vince wants it to end. Not any speicifically next week. Besides, it' only a million right?

If the logic behind giving away money to "dedicated" and "loyal" W.W.E. wrestling fans, wouldn't you want to do it to those that watch all three shows? To those that are willing to watch all three shows? Instead, from what I understand (and its still early) is that you sign up (multiple times, if you choose) throughout this week.. and everything ends on next Monday's Raw, in which throughout the night he'll (McMahon) be placing several phone calls to likely winners.

That's what I was thinking, or at least the 2 major shows. But the details are too early to be sure I guess.

The second flaw I see in this problem is, its all about the "mon-eyy" to Mr. McMahon, but its more about the ratings to him. He just wants to see his television show jump/boost in ratings. But once the "mon-eyy" is gone, wouldn't those who didn't watch before, quit watching again? Which would result in the ratings also going, again? So giving away money might help for a week or two, hell it might even help for a month, or however long he plans on giving it away.. but the second he stops giving it away, its not going to magically make his show "better" and result in those who didn't watch before, staying to watch after.

As I said before, it is entirely possible that it will bring in a new audience from people who haven't watched the show before. Which is hardly rewarding people for watching the show, but anyway. It is also possible that it may bring people back to the program, just for a while at least.

In my opinion, McMahon has a blind eye to why his show is lacking in the ratings. Giving away the sum of a Million Dollars isn't going to help his overall product get better. The show's ratings aren't high, because the show sucks. Money give-a-ways might help boost slightly, but not for any good reason. Only because hes questionably giving away money.

I agree with this. The program needs desperately to get better, but thats another "How to?" altogther. But, once again I say it may bring in a new audience.

Furthermore, in my own mind.. I wouldn't see someone like myself ever winning this money. Sure I'd love to, if it were real, but I won't be shocked when next Monday night comes and my phone doesn't ring with McMahon and money on the other end. And I'm almost 99.9% sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. We all tune in regularly and watch wrestling because we love it, and now we see "a Million Dollars" sitting there waiting to be "given away."

We all do tune is because we love it, the fact of the matter is, I know I'm not getting it beacuse I am not eligible. But I will still tune in next week, and who knows might be you. I'm sure I'll mark out if I here a Will winning though.

But the odds of any of us winning it are very slim to none. So is this truly a way to say thank you to the truly loyal wrestling fans? Or is it just a slap in all of our faces for putting up with the horrible shit thats went on through storylines, while some prick who randomly heard of this.. and watched for a week gets incredibly lucky?

Depends how manye people that registered are eligible and ready to go. "We" don't specifically have a chance to win, but someone will. Which is my point, if some random wins, they may choose to buy 5000 Tv's and tune in with them all. (Well that's not my point but....) The fact that random's may win. while unfitting it is, brings in a new audience for a while at least.

I'd rather see someone like Eric Bischoff or Steve Austin come back as General Manager of Raw. Or the Brand Extention to end, or any number of shocking "storyline" related things happen.. to increase my overally pleasure of viewing wrestling completely, then randomly get my hopes up that on one night, my phone could ring.. and instead of it being a bill collector, its a guy wanting to give me money for watching something I love.

This is what will bring in the ratings. Bringing in a good show, will be so much better than the give away. But that is a whole "How to?" as I said before.

In closing, I'd like to say that I have indeed signed up to this false prophet of sorts. While 99.9% of me is damn sure I won't be getting that so-called magical phone call, .01% of me holds out hope that I might be rewarded in some fashion, for watching the business that I love, for the passed 15-16 years. I will say this, however, I do not believe this will help their ratings boost in any manner. Least of all stay up, to where giving the money away meant anything in the first place. While I might hold false hope for winning money, I'll continue to hold even more endlessly false hope that wrestling might one day return to how great it was in years gone by.

A have no chance of winning personally, but I wish you and everone else good luck. I will never stop watching wrestling until the day it dies, if it dies. We need a program that we can hold onto, and enjoy. No give away can match that.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

As much as we sometimes don't want to admit it...better/more wrestling doesn't necessarily mean better ratings. Sure, it would be the best way to "reward the true fans", and I'd LOVE to see less promos and less bullshit on the shows, but the problem isn't the true fans. The true fans, the people that are on this forum and so forth, how often do we really stop watching? We bitch and complain all the time...myself included...when we don't get what we want, but when push comes to shove, we're sitting on the couch watching the next show. So in reality, the best way for them to boost their ratings is to appeal to a wider audience, which means less wrestling and more idiotic comedy angles, showing more skin from talentless divas like Maryse and Kelly Kelly, and pushing John Cena and Batista since women seem to be obsessed with them.

That being said, I have to agree with those that have already posted here in that this money deal will be a temporary band-aid on a wild gash at the very best. I doubt they will get numbers in the 6's just because of this in the first place, but once its over, it'll plummet back down to the number it currently is right now anyway. With any type of lottery-esque contest, participants are one of two options: 1) Smart enough to realize that their chance at winning is beyond negligible and they shouldn't ever get their hopes up. 2) Dumb enough to think its a sure-fire bet so they cross their fingers, pet their rabbits foot, and don't change their superstitious underwear for a week just in case.

Did I sign up? Of course. Its free. What do I have to lose? Am I going to win? There's a chance, but that chance is so minuscule that electron microscopes can't see it. Do I hope I'll win? You bet your ass, even if its only a thousand dollars as opposed to the million. But is this going to make me like WWE any better? NO. In fact, this might make me enjoy the next few episodes of Raw even less, since we'll have less wrestling and more talking about the money just to try to keep the new viewers from switching the channel and giving up.

All in all, I can sum up this entire scheme in the sentiment that we're ALL thinking: Unless I'm going to win, I don't care, so get it off my TV.

 

[chasingamy]

I do not believe this will help their ratings boost in any manner. Least of all stay up, to where giving the money away meant anything in the first place.

Will, you were right on…you couldn’t have been more right about the “effect” on ratings this contest would have. Last week’s Raw, featuring the first Million Dollar Mania giveaway, only did a 3.03 rating, which is slightly down – yes down – from the previous week’s 3.06 rating. I think it’s pretty clear that McMahon’s plan to boost ratings is a flop. I’m still dumbfounded that the sweepstakes didn’t help draw in any extra viewers whatsoever. I know Vince and company have to be really concerned, asking themselves if free money doesn’t make people watch, then what is it going to take?

Most likely tonight will be the last time we have to suffer through McMahon’s Million Dollar Mania (as I don't have any faith in the ratings drastically improving for tonight's show). Tonight’s announced prize amounts are $300,000, $175,000, $174,984, $125,000, $100,000, $75,000, $50,000, and $16. So go register one last time!

Now I read that last week’s winners were contacted BEFORE the show went on the air. Specifically, someone from either WWE or E-prize called to confirm their name/address and advised them to keep their phone line available as they’d been selected as a ‘finalist’ (credit Ryan Clark). So if they don’t call you prior to the show’s start, don’t expect a call during the show, and if anyone is watching solely for the ‘mon-ay’, then you don’t have to bother watching at all. Knowing this, there is even LESS incentive to watch the live Raw, at least for me and my family. I can go back to taping Raw to watch later in the week and not worry about falling asleep mid-show like usual, lol.