WWE/USA network update

[Atticus Chaos 0]

In what could ultimately end up a gigantic story, Raw is tanking big time, and while the most recent dip can be traced back to the Hornswaggle revelation, the reality is that it's been a long, bad summer for the company and with Cena out of action that's absolutely not going to help. The return of Shawn Michaels and the debut of Chris Jericho may help boost things, but only time will tell. Last week's show did a 3.2 rating off hours of 3.1 and 3.2, and this week's show did a 2.8. Keep in mind that there was a screwed-up rating about a month back that came in at 2.5, very close to this, and people either panicked or figured it was too impossibly low to be an accurate number. Nobody seems to be disputing this number given how it's been tumbling of late. So, all that leaves is panic. What could become a major issue is that WWE and USA haven't been on the best of terms lately. Bonnie Hammer of USA, who spearheaded the movement to bring WWE back from Spike, has been sending 10-20 creative suggestions to WWE regularly. We're told Vince gets them, reads them, forwards them to Stephanie, and then during creative meetings Brian Gewirtz goes over all of them and buries them in front of everyone. They haven't considered a single idea, partly because they're insecure about someone else's ideas working better than whatever they can come up with, and partly because if they do start using ideas the pressure will increase for them to use more. The scary thing is that WWE signed with USA/NBC/Universal on April 4, 2005, meaning their three-year deal expires shortly after WrestleMania. Their numbers are strong enough that there is zero chance of USA cancelling them (in fact, WWE alone allows USA to be the prestigious number-one ranked cable network, and without them they'd lose that spot). However, when Hammer signed the deal in 2005 she was expecting (and paying for) numbers in the upper 4's and low 5's. They are currently in the mid to low 3's and this week did in the high 2s. The bottom line is that WWE has very little leverage for negotiations, and they may end up signing a deal for significantly less than what they signed for three years ago. During a time when they've seemingly given up on PPV as the single main revenue generator in favor of TV rights fees and such, that would really affect the bottom line. It's not all gloom and doom, but the outlook also isn't positive.

 

f4w newsletter

 

So, Stephanie's worried about using Bonnie Hammer's ideas in case they turn out better than hers?

 

USA are going easy on WWE, though. You know if this ratings slump were happening to desperate housewives or House, the network would just demand the show's executive scrap most of the writing team and bring in new people with better ideas. I'd love to see Bonnie demand Vince sack Stephanie and Bryan Gerwitz.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Ratings will be through the roof in January for all 3 shows when they finally switch to HD now that USA and Sci Fi (as well as CW) are in HD.

 

or not.

 

 

[mfn 0]

Overkill. They need to fucking not have wrestling on 3 nights a week with a PPV every 3 weeks.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Bet Vince is wishing they hadn't parted on such bad terms with Spike now.

[mfn 0]

Bet Vince is wishing they hadn't parted on such bad terms with Spike now.

 

how bad was it? i started watching again when they were already on USA

 

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Bet Vince is wishing they hadn't parted on such bad terms with Spike now.

 

how bad was it? i started watching again when they were already on USA

 

 

1. Spike felt, not unreasonably, that since Raw was no longer doing the high ratings they were in 2000, that they shouldn't pay as much money to WWE. Vince apparently felt they should have more. Also, I heard Vince was so tough to work with during negotionations, they completely alientated the spike people and then had no choice but to go to USA.

 

2. The last show on Spike, Spike asked them not to mention or publicise USA network. Vince then proceeded to mention the USA network a good twenty or so times for the rest of the show (they tried to block it out but eventually gave up)

 

Plus, Spike is going fine without WWE. After they lost Raw they started pushing UFC, with great results. And TNA gets good ratings (and aren't nearly as costly or troublesome as WWE were).

[Nate 0]

ok this is a big if, but if USA dropped Raw where would they go obviously there's no chance of going to Spike for obvious reasons, things might get interesting by 2008

[Kawalimus 0]

See I kept saying this over and over again. That's what happens when you betray the trust of your viewers. The Hornswoggle reveal was another betrayal of trust cause fans wanted something interesting but Vince did something dumb to spite the rumor mills cause they were correct about it. This exactly the sort thing that helped tank WCW, with them doing whatever they could to spite all the smarks and dirt rags.

 

Now even when they bring out great surprises like HBK(which was a GREAT well done surprise), nobody gonna see it and they can only hope that some people trickle back in cause of that. But now people expect disappointment cause of things like Hornswoggle reveal and others. Keep in mind I don't hate Hornswoggle at all I think he is good character, but was used improperly there. And when people expect disappointment many of em gonna refrain from tuning in at all.

 

WWE has a long hard road ahead of em when it comes to earning back that trust from fans. It might even be unattainable. USA is RIGHT to put the heat on WWE but WRONG to keep feeding em ideas. They should just say "look you guys need to get your shit together" and try let WWE fix itself. Unless they are purposely working WWE's massive egos in order to get excuse to drop em. But I don't think USA network Bonnie Hammer and them are that strategic. Cause look at what happened with Sci Fi Channel.

 

Also--can we have a source on this? As right here it's just an quote.

[Superfly Snuka 0]

Ratings will be through the roof in January for all 3 shows when they finally switch to HD now that USA and Sci Fi (as well as CW) are in HD.

 

or not.

 

Dude, with all the roid heads in wrestling, you really want to see all the backne in HD? Seeing Snitsky alone in HD may cause to give up watching wrestling, period.

[TheFranchise 0]

Ah yes, that infamous RAW IS USA ep on Spike.

 

They bleeped them but did such a bad job they were sometimes two or three SECONDS out.

 

And that's quite bad if you think about it.

[Superfly Snuka 0]

See I kept saying this over and over again. That's what happens when you betray the trust of your viewers. The Hornswoggle reveal was another betrayal of trust cause fans wanted something interesting but Vince did something dumb to spite the rumor mills cause they were correct about it. This exactly the sort thing that helped tank WCW, with them doing whatever they could to spite all the smarks and dirt rags.

 

Actually, I thought Vince had little to no choice, given that Kennedy (once again) screwed up by being by busted in the NATIONWIDE steroid probe. Surely, you couldn't have expected them to push Kennedy with the major plot line of the summer given he had to be suspended with all the negative national media after the whole Benoit thing. To tell you the truth, as there was really no other person that would have made sense/received such a major push, i thought turning it into comedy to finish it qucikly was fine.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

See I kept saying this over and over again. That's what happens when you betray the trust of your viewers. The Hornswoggle reveal was another betrayal of trust cause fans wanted something interesting but Vince did something dumb to spite the rumor mills cause they were correct about it. This exactly the sort thing that helped tank WCW, with them doing whatever they could to spite all the smarks and dirt rags.

 

The source was the Figure Four Wrestling newsletter. You'll note it says "From F4W" under the quote.

 

I don't think it's entirely fair to say the Hornswoggle deal was a spiteful act towards smart fans already aware of the angle's direction. They were hit with that whole pharmacy scandal fiasco and had to alter the Kennedy plans. Hornswoggle seemed like a way to end the whole storyline on a comedy note and move on.

[Guest gfanikf]

Ratings will be through the roof in January for all 3 shows when they finally switch to HD now that USA and Sci Fi (as well as CW) are in HD.

 

or not.

 

Dude, with all the roid heads in wrestling, you really want to see all the backne in HD? Seeing Snitsky alone in HD may cause to give up watching wrestling, period.

 

I thought there was still no decision on WWE switching to HD after the test they did with Smackdown and Vince wasn't happy with it. I only know that TNA is going to switch in 08, because Spike is making them.

[Kawalimus 0]

See I kept saying this over and over again. That's what happens when you betray the trust of your viewers. The Hornswoggle reveal was another betrayal of trust cause fans wanted something interesting but Vince did something dumb to spite the rumor mills cause they were correct about it. This exactly the sort thing that helped tank WCW, with them doing whatever they could to spite all the smarks and dirt rags.

 

The source was the Figure Four Wrestling newsletter. You'll note it says "From F4W" under the quote.

 

I don't think it's entirely fair to say the Hornswoggle deal was a spiteful act towards smart fans already aware of the angle's direction. They were hit with that whole pharmacy scandal fiasco and had to alter the Kennedy plans. Hornswoggle seemed like a way to end the whole storyline on a comedy note and move on.

 

Oh sorry I missed that.

 

Even if they had to alter Kennedy plans, Hornswoggle was not what WWE fans wanted. They wanted something big, as it was being advertised. Instead they got some crappy comedy thing even though I like Hornswoggle people wanted something groundbreaking from the product.

 

You don't just take an angle supposed to be big and end it like that. That's taking a huge dump on your fans.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Ah yes, that infamous RAW IS USA ep on Spike.

 

They bleeped them but did such a bad job they were sometimes two or three SECONDS out.

 

And that's quite bad if you think about it.

 

They should have brought Hacksaw Jim Duggan back one RAW early, but the WWE wouldn't be that clever.

[dh86 0]

See I kept saying this over and over again. That's what happens when you betray the trust of your viewers. The Hornswoggle reveal was another betrayal of trust cause fans wanted something interesting but Vince did something dumb to spite the rumor mills cause they were correct about it. This exactly the sort thing that helped tank WCW, with them doing whatever they could to spite all the smarks and dirt rags.

 

Actually, I thought Vince had little to no choice, given that Kennedy (once again) screwed up by being by busted in the NATIONWIDE steroid probe. Surely, you couldn't have expected them to push Kennedy with the major plot line of the summer given he had to be suspended with all the negative national media after the whole Benoit thing. To tell you the truth, as there was really no other person that would have made sense/received such a major push, i thought turning it into comedy to finish it qucikly was fine.

 

Umaga and Morrison went right back to the major feuds they were in prior to getting suspended. WWE had no reason not to just wait for Kennedy.

[Craig Th 0]

WTF is this Hornswoggle stuff? How did it betray their viewers?

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

I'm thinking that whatever success the USA network is having with some of it's other shows might being going to their heads a bit. WWE hasn't always been their flagship show but has been one of its highest watermarks through the years. USA wanted RAW back in a big way after it went to Spike so maybe they outta second-guess their second-guessing. I mean, Monk and Burn Notice seem to have their share of fans but c'mon... how much of a shelf life do they have? WWE has been around forever (it seems) with a long track record USA would be stupid to let that go.

 

That being said should USA dump RAW, Sci-Fi and the CW can always pick up the slack. Of course it might mean the end of the brand extension.

 

[Ripper 0]

See I kept saying this over and over again. That's what happens when you betray the trust of your viewers. The Hornswoggle reveal was another betrayal of trust cause fans wanted something interesting but Vince did something dumb to spite the rumor mills cause they were correct about it. This exactly the sort thing that helped tank WCW, with them doing whatever they could to spite all the smarks and dirt rags.

 

Actually, I thought Vince had little to no choice, given that Kennedy (once again) screwed up by being by busted in the NATIONWIDE steroid probe. Surely, you couldn't have expected them to push Kennedy with the major plot line of the summer given he had to be suspended with all the negative national media after the whole Benoit thing. To tell you the truth, as there was really no other person that would have made sense/received such a major push, i thought turning it into comedy to finish it qucikly was fine.

 

Umaga and Morrison went right back to the major feuds they were in prior to getting suspended. WWE had no reason not to just wait for Kennedy.

 

 

They should have waited a month to finish the angle?

 

The dude fucked the company there. Not their fault. Although I do think that the Hornswaggle revel did hurt ratings. It had the chance to be something interesting and it turned out to be one of the more boring and dumb segments of the show now. Its one of those "make me turn the channel" things.

 

And lilian Garcia literally made me turn the channel and I almost forgot to turn back.

 

 

With that said, they could send back Bonnies ideas with FUCK YOU written over them if they want to, USA isn't going to get rid of the WWE. They saw the ratings for that time slot when they left before and they saw the advertising revenues they got. Nothing is really going to happen, although I hope this forces some drastic changes.

[Kawalimus 0]

WTF is this Hornswoggle stuff? How did it betray their viewers?

 

Cause the fans were promised a big angle way back when Vince killed himself or pretended to. The fans wanted payoff. But then with the Benoit thing they had cancel that big payoff. But the fans still wanted it so then the Vince's son angle came to be. So the fans were expecting another big story, with wrestlers all over, all candidates interview, TONS time each week spending fans time they put aside to watch raw, that t ime being spent covering Vince's son storyline, close shows with revelations.

 

But then cause of a setback instead of waiting for kennedy or just modifying that angle become a Giant development without Kennedy, they chose end it quick and disappointingly to get back at the newsletters for criticizing their actions in drug cases and also for spoiling developments in the son angle.

 

So they betrayed their viewer trust in order to try make it more unpredictable just like WCW did. And look at that it hurt ratings just like WCW did.

 

To fix this WWE is gonna have to set some of their egos aside and work toward a solution.

[Craig Th 0]

Ohhh, he was the son???? Hornswoggle? Ha! No wonder the ratings are so low.

[Kawalimus 0]

Yeah that's what happened. They made Hornswoggle the son in that angle and it ended quick no big payoff or anything. THat's like ending the baseball playoffs after the wildcard round with no on-screen explanation. Yeah the internet fanbase knows why that happened. But what about the people don't r ead that internet news? All they're left with is disappointment.

[Maztinho 0]

You can't tell me that Vince going into full Adam's Apple bobbing mode and running from a hugging Hornswaggle wasn't great. If you think about it, it's full circle. Hornswaggle was a Little Bastard.

 

It's called continuity, even if it was by accident.

[Mike wanna be 0]

And now it's the same old schtick with his son: Vince tells someone to watch him, who agrees that it will be a ridiculously easy assignment, only to realize they've already lost the bugger 2 seconds after Vince left the room. The rest of the show involves at least one person wandering the arena searching for him.

 

EDIT: By no means am I trashing the angle as is; I like the segments and they are amusing to me, but the biggest angle of the traditionally quiet summer turning into nothing more than a 5-minute-per-show comedy schtick (that probably could have been set up without using the angle on it, no less) is a financial disaster. This was supposed to build to Cena/Kennedy and then to Kennedy/HHH, the WM main event at the time; now it's built nothing and there isn't a single money match to be made out of it.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

WWE has a long hard road ahead of em when it comes to earning back that trust from fans. It might even be unattainable. USA is RIGHT to put the heat on WWE but WRONG to keep feeding em ideas. They should just say "look you guys need to get your shit together" and try let WWE fix itself. Unless they are purposely working WWE's massive egos in order to get excuse to drop em. But I don't think USA network Bonnie Hammer and them are that strategic. Cause look at what happened with Sci Fi Channel

 

WWE isn't willing to fix itself, though. That would mean a overhaul of the creative team, and the chances of that happening are slim.

 

As for Hammer, I doubt she's an expert on wrestling but she's been watching since 1997 or so (which gives her an advantage over most of the Hollywood writers). She probably knows what works and what doesn't.

 

I find it hard to believe she's suggested 10-20 ideas and none of them are remotely workable. Either way, ignoring her is surely just going to piss her off.

[cabbageboy 0]

While the Hornswaggle reveal drew a chuckle or two in the end here is the main problem with this angle and the Vince limo angle: It draws no money. There isn't a match that can come from this stuff, so there is no reason to do it. I have no problem with Raw being a show to develop angles for a PPV, but there's nothing much you can do with these Mystery Theater type angles. Hell, even the Hummer angle in WCW would have let do a match (Nash vs. the Culprit) had they actually just revealed who did it.

 

 

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Bet Vince is wishing they hadn't parted on such bad terms with Spike now.

 

how bad was it? i started watching again when they were already on USA

 

 

1. Spike felt, not unreasonably, that since Raw was no longer doing the high ratings they were in 2000, that they shouldn't pay as much money to WWE. Vince apparently felt they should have more. Also, I heard Vince was so tough to work with during negotiations, they completely alienated the spike people and then had no choice but to go to USA.

You forgot 3, which is Spike TV very publicly ceasing negotiations with WWE over a new deal, leaving Vince no choice but to go crawling to USA and accept a deal that he couldn't have liked one bit.

[Mike wanna be 0]

If they don't use her ideas, she takes none of the blame for the show's bad ratings and can continue to put pressure on them. If they use her ideas and they bomb, she can point out that the show's ratings have been in a freefall and that her one non-over idea isn't as bad as their past few months of non-over ideas. If they use her ideas and they work, she can gloat about how she saved Raw.

 

Bonnie Hammer's got it made.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

USA can replace Raw with Burn Notice or Monk. They both can get 3.0 ratings.

Why the hell is Steph in creative anyway? Vince needs his passion back, Russo on a leash, and few other things to get the rating up.

 

What wasn't mentioned in the other posts, I believe Chris Benoit's death really hurt ratings. His death stopped the Vince's death angle and it brought back the Wellness Policy, which got several wrestlers suspended. Because those wrestler were gone, we got main events with Mr. Cena and Mr. Kennedy ended up injuring Cena.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

I do find it amazing that no network executive (for either Spike or USA) has noticed the blatant nepotism of Stephanie's position and the dwindling ratings since she took over in 2001. Or, if they have noticed havn't made one complaint about it to Vince.

 

C'mon, if JJ Abrahms hired his brother as head writer for Lost and it started to tank (to half of what it once was), how long would that situation last before ABC stepped in and got rid of the brother?