Raw rating??

[Guest sanyo]

OK OK nobody cares about wrestling. I say they have to kill the brand extension or bring in Goldberg. Goldberg vs. Taker would be exciting.

 

Also I would think the WWE needs to get out of its Viacom deal. The only reason it got into the deal in the first place was because of the possibly of shows on CBS- which never happened. Also they are off MTV now so with their flagship show on some channel that no casual fan cares to venture for, they are screwed! If they kept to USA I would dare say the rating would be in the mid to high 4's, even cracking 5's for quarter-hours. Also UPN is a screw-job and its not a channel like CBS, NBC with affilicates(Sp?) in almost every little part of the USA. UPN doesn't have the coverage and usually in some big-markets its pre-empted for hockey. I know cause in Toronto we get the Boston UPN channel (I don't know why not Buffalo since we get their NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS channels) and sometimes there's Boston hockey. So I would think the WWE needs to think hard and maybe go begging back to USA to get programming back there. But- I hope USA spits back in WWE's face because I wouldn't take them back and why would I? They are stuck on a second rate channel and they will need God's prayer if they every hope to crack 5's again, let alone 6's.

[Secret Agent 0]

Why would USA possibly take WWE back you ask? Hows this for an answer "$$$" ?

[Guest Dazed]

What's the excuse for piss-poor ratings for the last few months? Whenever RAW or SD does a miracle 4.0+ rating, there is no "they were challenged by other stuff", but the 9/10 times the ratings suck, it's always another programs fault.

 

Let me guess why TNA gets poor buyrates: It goes against Survivor.

I'm not offering "excuses" or commenting on any other week's figures. I'm just saying that being directly against a show that pulled in a 30 (or so) rating would not have done SD! any favours. Surely even you can see that.

[AndrewTS 0]

Why would USA possibly take WWE back you ask? Hows this for an answer "$$$" ?

Who watches USA now, anyway?

[Guest sanyo]

USA is still one of the highest rated cable networks behind maybe only ESPN and Nickelodon. It has shows like Monk and you can never go wrong with Baywatch re-runs. Spike I believe, beside WWE, is one of the least watched networks.

 

Also someone said something like why take WWE back? Well $$$ yes, but its also very costly to put together a live event every week. Re-runs on USA probably get 2's and shows like Monk gets 3's so why spend maybe triple the amount of money on a show that is struggling to get in the 4's. Also you have to put up with all these groups against the WWE, and for alot of networks that's a headache in itself. I say in the end the USA is better off without wrestling and the WWE is screwed with another Spike TV deal- the only crap network for men.

[Michrome 0]

Further evidence against your "nobody cares about long matches" theory is in the ratings. The first Benoit vs. Michaels match that went 21 minutes + gained over a million viewers total according to the Observer, which is a fantastic number. The 35 minute Shawn-HHH match did a great job sustaining a big gain too, as did the Shelton-HHH match, and others. The long matches have consistently been WWE's best source for a long-term strong rating to end the shows. They never lose anybody, and gain throughout. The only time a long match has died in the ratings was the ironman match, and that was because people didn't want to sit through an hour match, and because they knew it would all come down to the end anyway. Long wrestling matches over the last 5 months have done GREAT in the ratings, whether you care about facts or not.

[2GOLD 0]

USA had no interest in keeping the WWE when it was popping 5's, so why exactly would they want them back when they are in the low 4's?

 

USA is doing excellent business, SPIKE only has the WWE. SPIKE without WWE is just a dead shell of a network. No matter how poorly the WWE does, it would be doing 100 times better than anything else they release.

[Guest sanyo]

Long matches have its merit. They had them in 2000 as well. They usually have big ratings in the end anyways. I still think the people tuning in are mostly wrestling fans- not too many casual fans. Its great to have ratings increases but remember- the champ's job is not just to get fans watching his own stuff- but to get people watching for the whole show. Benoit for two months has gain really nothing. Quarter-hours mean nothing. Its the whole show. Now I'm NOT expecting 5's at the moment. Raw should have been in the 4.3's by now. I mean it was everyone's dream of a new star at the top. Wrestlemania was almost two months ago and its been doing the same numbers since the beginning of the year. Raw has average 3.8-4.0 since the beginning of the year. Benoit as champ has not increase the rating at all and that's after winning the Rumble, Wrestlemania and Backlash in his hometown. You have to admit the pops he got from his hometown did not pass over the next week. Benoit even got boos on Raw 2 weeks ago when he put the sharpshooter on Michaels. Its the same, meaning no new fans have started to watch the show.

 

Look hardcore fans love him, no doubt. Also people have said I think he sucks. I never said that. I even said he is one of the best wrestlers in the organization. But the fact is outside of his matches he is not a guy a casual fan would tune in to watch. His promos are slow and boring. He doesn't ooze that excitiment factor- he just doesn't! Plus if Benoit was on Smackdown in Eddy's shoes, he would be in the 2.8 zone. Chris has done nothing and I'm sticking to it. My friends who were wrestling fans have not tuned in. Y2J is the guy who could bring in new viewers cause he doesn't have to wrestle very time to get people to watch. Benoit does! If Benoit is doing a promo- people fall asleep.

 

But we'll see guys. Let's give it 2 more months. If Raw is still in the range its in now, then Benoit has not brought in new viewers and its time to cut his push and bring in someone new.