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-------------------- Before I begin today's "Excellence in Column" writing, let me first start by saying THANK YOU to the many readers out there for your kind words. If I didn't have a great LordsofPain.net audience like you, I wouldn't exist, period. Thank you, once again... So I was looking at the Monday Night RAW Ratings and the quarterly hour breakdown... Marc Middleton/LordsofPain.net transcribing the Wrestling Observer Newsletter As noted before, the January 23rd WWE RAW Supershow did a 3.17 cable rating with 4.61 million viewers. This was the first RAW in a while with no nationally televised sports and the Male skew showed it at 68.1%. Ratings with Male Teens, Males 18-49 and Female Teens were also up. The opening angle with John Cena, CM Punk and John Laurinaitis did a strong 3.49 quarter rating but Punk and Cena vs. Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler lost 528,000 viewers - a bad loss for a segment with top stars like Cena and Punk. The Chris Jericho Highlight Reel segment also lost viewers - 287,000. Kane vs. Zack Ryder in the Falls Count Anywhere Match gained 601,000 viewers. Jinder Mahal vs. Sheamus lost 490,000 viewers while Heath Slater vs. Brodus Clay gained 35,000 viewers and The Miz vs. R-Truth lost 19,000 viewers. The ending segment with John Laurinaitis and CM Punk gained 761,000 viewers for a 3.54 overrun rating. This is normal growth for the overrun but better than usual for a segment with CM Punk. With the overrun, Male Teens went from a 2.7 to a 3.0 rating, Males 18-49 went from a 2.8 to 3.4, Female Teens went from a 1.1 to 1.2 and Women 18-49 stayed at a 1.2. Overall 3.2 or rounded from 3.17 (I'm laughing at news outlets including hundredths on the decimals now) for the "GOING HOME" show before Royal Rumble 2012 is good. I was expecting 3.0, but the WWE is proving themselves to have some interest that remains in the 2nd top show of the year. I believe that the 3.49 9:00pm to 9:15pm quarter hour is telling. Sure, it suddenly lost ratings once the match started, but the WWE has REAL potential in pairing CM Punk and John Cena in storylines and angles. Both guys are legitimately over as faces, as proven by Cena's merchandise/house show drawing numbers and CM Punk's recent merchandise push. In my opinion, they made magic together through the Money in the Bank 2011 show and together boosted that show's buyrate and ratings in the following week. Chris Jericho's segments are losing viewers, but I wouldn't count on that being an issue as I'll explain later. Where's the scapegoating, WWE?!? A Zack Ryder match DREW 601,000 new eyeballs. I'm sure the WWE will give the explanation of it being the 10:00 timeslot and/or KANE is the "real draw"... However, if we're going to get picky on the ratings, then the WWE must take ownership of CM Punk/John Cena vs. Jack Swagger/Dolph Ziggler @ 9:15pm losing 528,000 viewers. WWE needs to have consistency in their scapegoating for these quarter hour ratings. Better yet with CM Punk, if the WWE is getting cold feet about him as WWE champion based on lower numbers, his Overruns have drawn well for back-to-back weeks. 761,000 gained viewers with a 3.5 rating... I'm sure John Laurinaitis gets all of the credit for that, right? Let's just CUT THE CRAP already about RAW Ratings. What the WWE has is a SYSTEMIC problem. Everything that they've done for the last 2 years has been performing lower than previous years. Why? Economy has been rough, as the WWE's population of viewers might have been forced to choose between Cable and other necessities. The rise of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as a competitor for 16-25 year olds has put the hurtings on the entire wrestling industry, in my opinion. It makes me wonder if the pro wrestling talent pool is also being affected by MMA's rise? But most of all, the WWE doesn't have any storylines that compel WWE fans and even worse, the WWE lacks that "MUST SEE" draw right now. Cena and Punk do well with their merchandise, but putting more butts in seats and more eyeballs on shows is what matters more. The past few weeks of RAW have proven that NOBODY is drawing fans anything above a 3.5 rating, nore is the WWE attracting anything above 5 million viewers. Not John Cena and not the guys scapegoated for the ratings, CM Punk and Zack Ryder. WWE needs to stop kidding itself with their own political games played by the McMahons and making excuses for their own personal favorites. Worse yet, Triple H comes in just before Wrestlemania 28 on his white horse to "save the ratings". WWE has SYSTEMIC issues that they've self-inflicted upon themselves, while a few outside factors are slowly killing the pro wrestling industry. WWE needs a massive overhaul of not only the product, but they need to change the perception of Pro Wrestling. MMA is a real, legitimate sport and while the WWE has a staged athletic performace to offer to the 16-25 age demographic. Thus, the WWE has a serious uphill battle to convince teenagers to buy into staged athletic performances compared to seeing something real. WWE needs to modernize the way it thinks, the way it's presented, and the way it's marketed. When you have a DECLINING NUMBERS PROBLEM, the last thing you want to do with a declining audience is to create an entire new Cable Network. Sorry, but the WWE Network could be in for some rough times, especially as the 16-25 year old group of fans gravitate more towards using their Smartphones and Netflix. However, if the WWE overhauled itself and the way the public at large things about wrestling, the WWE Network will be a success. Until then, stop scapegoating the wrestlers we still like and follow. CM Punk, especially, deserves better treatment by the WWE. WWE might be really hurting without his drawing presence for older fans instead of just seeing a repeat of the last 5 years with John Cena dominating as a babyface. CONTACT MR. TITO - Email: [email protected] - Twitter: @titowrestling - Join LoPForums.com: Feedback Thread BLOG is TITO Archive on LoPForums.com © Mr. Tito 1998 - 2012
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