Smackdown moving

[valon10]

In over six weeks WWE Smackdown is moving to my network which is channel 9 for some people.I,don't what channel it is for other people but, they can check the TV guide.Is,Smackdown moving because the president of CW11 doesn't want to renew the contract?Why, don't they want to renew anyway?Wow,so what people watch Smackdown more then other shows Two and a half men,Friends,and etc.......I am glad that Smackdown is going back to my9 in just couple of weeks and hopefully they can stay their for three years or even more!!!!!!!

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Well, SmackDown couldn't jump to another network with more momentum on their side, in my opinion. Things have really started heating up on SmackDown after the Draft. They aren't doing EVERYTHING right, but they're slowly getting SmackDown back to a level not seen since 2003.

I don't really know too much about networks in the US. Is moving to the MyNetWorkTV a good move for WWE? Does it have a bigger demographic and more exposure than CW? Either way, you can be pretty damn sure the MyNetworkTV execs are gonna get their money's worth.

 

[Showtime]

The CW network I think wanted to focus on the female viewers more so that's why they axed SD (not saying women don't watch wrestling, but I'd say the majority that do ae men) The CW does have a lot of chick shows like 90210, Gossip Girl, and One Tree Hill, but they do also have Family Guy, which draws a big male audience, so in some sense, it still doesn't make sense. I don't think I get MyNetwork in Canada, but as far as i know the score is still goingto rebroadcast it for canadians so it's not a big deal for me if it moves. I just hope it doesn't move to thursdays, I'm always busy on thursdays and used to never be able to watch SD. Let's hope that it continues to draw good ratings on MyNetwork.

 

[Mr. TM]

Smackdown is on the move! Despite being one of the biggest shows on UPN and later the CW Network, they no longer want the show on their Network. They have been making the channel progressively more female orientated. Also, Family Guy is on Fox, It might just be on your local CW station. SmackDown was intentionally beefed up during the last Draft to make it more appealing when it went over to MynetworkTV, the same way they beefed up Raw when it returned back to USA. MynetworkTV is an up and coming broadcast that looks to overtake the number 5 position from CW.

 

[Rusty]

I don't know too much about the American networks as I don't live there. But from what I heard, MyNetwork TV isn't a huge network. Smackdown was actually struggling to find a network to air on a few months ago. I think its sad that none of the big US networks want Smackdown. It has always had decent ratings and has remained a consistant cable rating of 2.4 to 2.6 for quite some time now. That means that people that watch Smackdown are loyal viewers. Unlike the Raw viewers who seem to tune in or tune out depending on the storylines or who is the current World Champion.

Smackdown really does have much more talent than what it did before the draft. It should have a nice debut on the new channel. Smackdown really does shift networks often. I remember it only debuted on the CW network in 2005 from memory. Hopefully this move will work out better for the channel and for Smackdown itself. The CW was never a really big network to begin with from what I know. So the move to MyNetwork TV can't be that bad.

When the move does take place in October, hopefully we see better quality episodes of Smackdown since I imagine the WWE would want to try bring in new viewers to the show. It doesn't affect me much personally one bit, but it could affect everyone if the WWE puts on even better quality episodes of the show.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

What I'm really hoping for is that they don't try too desperately to pull out the "we have something for everyone" card. By that I mean, I don't want to see one match be a squash with Khali, the next segment be a comedic Hornswoggle thing, then have the women in a bikini match, then have Undertaker doing that ridiculous "I can conjure up lightning" stuff, then following it up with R-Truth doing a rap segment, then....

Hopefully they just decide that they should put on the best possible show, with lots of action, some VERY SHORT video packages (3-4 minute packages turn people off and leaves nothing left for enticement or anticipation, but a quick 45 second thing could get people to say "Hey...what was that? Maybe I should check out Raw the next time it comes on and see what they were talking about") and most importantly, that they don't just get discouraged on the first night having flopped, because it definitely will. People won't be used to the channel switch, they'll forget, they'll think its not being shown that night, etc, no matter how many times you remind them. They have to remember that most people have no clue what MyNetworkTV is, because not only is it part of the standard lineup of "basic channels", but it doesn't have any high-profile original programming, it has an INCREDIBLY generic name and logo, and so forth. There's no doubt about it, Smackdown is going to struggle with ratings for a while being on such a network. But maybe that will just make the WWE try harder (and hopefully not ignore ECW and Raw in the process).

 

[Richard]

What the hell? SmackDown is coming to channel 9?

I thought we only got Afterburn?

Afterburn is so crap, they never show chair shots, e.g todays episode. When Triple H hit Khali with a chair, the camera cut to the crowd and then cut back when Jeff Hardy was giving him the Swanton Bomb. It never shows full matches or anything in full. It didn't show where Edge tipped Vickie Guerreros wheel chair over, all it had was Todd Grisham at the end saying how Edge turned on Vickie.

 

[klunderbunker]

SD moving, at least here in America, isn't going to do that well for its ratings. Ok that's the nice way of saying it. The reality: THey're going to fall further than they already are. Not only are they already taped so why bother watching, but now they're on a network that even less people have. I really hope this was the CW's idea and not WWE's. If CW believes that people are going to watch their excuses for tv, they're sadly mistaken. Name 3 shows on CW not named Smallville or Supernatural. With Smallville drawing to a close that leaves one show on that network. By getting rid of SD, they're done. The move probably won't hurt the product that much though, as SD is currently doing well. I hope I have the channel here to watch it on.

 

[ahjoyc2]

I, for one, think this move is terrible.

I don't know about the availability in other areas, but where I live, the cable company doesn't even carry MyNetworkTV. Not on regular cable, not on digital cable, nowhere to be found on any of the packages.

Therefore, even if I wanted to shell out the extra $ every month to my cable provider to watch Smackdown, I couldn't.

Even though WWE is trying to build up Smackdown and trying to make an impact when the move occurs, ratings are going to drop. If the channel isn't even available to watch, then how are people going to tune in?

For me, I'm going to have to solely rely on the WZ spoilers to find out what happened on Smackdown. If Smackdown doesn't move from MyNetworkTV shortly after, then I think we may see Smackdown dissolve. Some of the Smackdown roster will go to Raw and the others will go to ECW and ECW may get a much needed overhaul.

 

[Frank the Frowner]

Everyone should have at least one MyNetworkTV affiliate. When the WB and UPN merged, in most markets, one of those became a MyNetworkTV. New Hampshire already had an affiliate, so Boston just picked that one up.

Look at it this way, at least they found an actual taker for Smackdown. Smackdown's actually in a similar place now that they were when they first debuted on UPN. UPN was a network that was just starting off and was mainly known for awful shows such as "Platypus Man". Smackdown got that network high ratings, and UPN benefited because the WWE was still very popular in culture when it first debuted on the network. It legitimized the network.

A lot of people also don't realize that in a way, this is good for the WWE because MyNetworkTV is actually owned by Fox. If Fox ever wanted to air a WWE special on a Saturday night, they'd probably be able to. Smackdown is also the centerpiece of MyNetworkTV. They have no other shows to speak of, besides a sitcom starring Flava Flav or reruns of That 70s Show. The CW wanted to move in another direction, which is stupid on their part, because Smackdown was still their highest rated show, and it's getting replaced by ethnic themed sitcoms, which UPN was known for.

I hope for the WWE's sake that this move pans out.