Eric Bischoff gave his thoughts on various topics on the latest episode of his Strictly Business podcast.
During it, Bischoff talked about WWE potentially moving Raw to a different night when they reached their new TV rights deal for the program. The USA Network is not expected to sign for the rights after getting SmackDown.
“It’s always a challenge because you’re breaking a habit. You know, one of the things you do when creating a television brand or a property is trying to develop. A habit with your audience to tune in. You want them to anticipate. You want them to make it a part of their regular viewing habit. And anytime you move from your regular night, either voluntarily or not voluntarily, it hasn’t. It has a negative impact. It is hard to measure sometimes, making it difficult to measure because the wrestling audience is extremely loyal, like fans of Raw. First of all, they will know well in advance when it’s moving and where. So, the odds are that you will lose a significant part of your audience. For any length of time, it is pretty minimal because of that loyalty. Maybe initially, because, again, people are slow to change their habits. And it takes a little effort to program your DVR, to schedule your week around something that’s changing nights if you like to watch it live. So, I think initially, you’re going to take a little bit of a hit. Can’t put a number on that. I don’t think anybody can. It’s there, but it’s minimal. But it’s something that doesn’t take long. You know, we’ve seen it before. You know, shows have moved nights before and yeah, there’s a bit of a hit, but it doesn’t last long. And the audience will find you, especially the wrestling audience.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit the Strictly Business with an h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
