Media Life Article

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Media Life Article: Can Vince save WWE wrestling?

 

Can Vince save WWE wrestling?

Pundits ponder: Wattage of star power dimming

 

By Kevin Downey

 

With television ratings for the once-invincible World Wrestling Entertainment tanking of late, the question increasingly on the minds of media people is, what is Vince McMahon going to do about it?

 

Most analysts think the company’s chairman is well aware of the reasons behind the WWE’s audience erosion and suspect he is setting about fixing them, and quick.

 

The single biggest problem facing the WWE, they say, is the lack of wrestling stars.

 

The WWE was not available for comment, but followers of the franchise say McMahon and his team are grooming Brock Lesnar to fill that role and attract more than just a core group of devotees.

 

“The WWE seems to have a lack of patience lately,” says Alex Gordon, managing editor of Wrestling Digest.

 

“It used to be that if they had two hot wrestlers, they would keep them apart for months. Now if they have something exciting, they go to it sooner and play it to death.

 

“Any sport, legitimate or not, has to create superstars who will excite hard core fans and draw in people who might not be watching.”

 

Larry DeGaris, vice president of research at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, agrees.

 

“One of their main challenges is to find enough talent to fill up all their programming,” he says.

 

“You have a lot of experienced performers, but those guys who are both experienced and good have been around for a while. Like any business, they need fresh faces.”

 

The need is great.

 

The draw of The Rock has waned since he began focusing on a so-so movie career. And Stone Cold Steve Austin walked away from the WWE, although he is still under contract, reportedly because of being dissatisfied with the WWE’s emphasis on out-of-ring antics.

 

Ratings for virtually every WWE program reflect the diminishing star power.

 

Although the WWE’s shows on UPN and TNN, for example, still pull in respectable ratings, they have been trending downward.

 

The most-watched episode on TNN in October was seen in 3.4 million homes, according to Nielsen Media Research, compared to this time last year, when the top episode was watched in about 4.1 million homes.

 

Syndicated ratings were down about 9 percent earlier this year.

 

And UPN’s “Smackdown” last week had an audience of 5.6 million people, down 21 percent from what it averaged two seasons ago.

 

Perhaps the WWE can pin some of the blame on tough competition, with shows like CBS’s “Survivor” going head-to-head with UPN’s “Smackdown” on Thursdays.

 

“If you start putting better shows against it, it will suffer,” says Gordon.

 

“I’m willing to bet ‘Survivor’ is drawing ratings away, and the Monday shows tend to suffer against football.”

 

But a far bigger problem seems to be the WWE’s backstage screaming matches and the soap-opera story lines, which have devolved into parodies of themselves.

 

That comes at the expense of the wrestling matches.

 

“People enjoy that to a degree, but some of the matches are so lame,” says Gordon.

 

“Some of these guys are in their 50s now and some of the women were hired just for their looks. That’s not to say there can’t be great female wrestlers, but the first match after the [billy & Chuck wedding] didn’t happen was between these two women who seemed to be finding their way around the ring.”

 

The one thing almost everybody agrees on is that McMahon won’t watch his empire crumble.

 

He effectively brought the WWE to the attention of non-viewers with the mock same-sex wedding, for example. Even though it never took place, it still got a slew of media coverage, including airtime on “The Today Show” and Howard Stern’s radio program.

 

The company still pulls in big money, with Hoovers reporting that revenue for fiscal year 2002 was $425 million, although that was down slightly from last year.

 

And a match last week filmed for pay-per-view was the biggest moneymaker of any WWE event at Madison Square Garden.

 

Despite bits of good news, the company is reacting to lingering problems by making changes, like giving the ax last week to its chief financial officer and chief marketing officer.

 

Analysts say the WWE is also experimenting with different formats on some of its shows and is keeping an eye on rising stars.

 

“Vince McMahon is the ultimate showman and knows better than anybody what viewers want,” says David M. Carter, principal at the Sports Business Group.

 

“Under his watch, people like The Rock became full-fledged personalities, so they are probably bending over backwards trying to figure out who that next great person is. They have to find that guy and do it with reckless abandon.”

[Guest buffybeast]

But a far bigger problem seems to be the WWE’s backstage screaming matches and the soap-opera story lines, which have devolved into parodies of themselves.

 

I wish Vince would accept this statement as truth.