Scenario 1: When TV commercials finally gain sentience and enslave humanity.
Scenario 2: When you have a personal investment in how well your favorite show is being funded but only in the commercial department
Scenario 3: When you have a weird obsession with mocking people who don’t enjoy things that you do
When AEW beat NXT for 7 weeks it was because AEW was fresh and people liked that new car smell. When NXT beat AEW for the last two weeks it was because NXT loaded it with big named Superstars – not to mention Thanksgiving and Survivor Series happened. Also, none of the things I just said are true. Let’s see how many people made it this far before traveling to the comment section.
The excuses for why one show beat the other can get a little insane at times and petty at others. Like, did you know that even though NXT is beating AEW in the overall ratings that AEW is winning in the super important 18-49 demographic? That’s super important to you – a viewer and non-commercial entity – because of reasons that are never really made clear. But can you believe that NXT isn’t doing well in that demographic? That’s hilarious to you – a guy who doesn’t even watch that show – because of some reasons that are never made clear. People like to resort to the Us vs Them mentality when there are at least two options inside the same niche, but its never made clear why “my number is bigger than your number” is a good argument when trying to convince someone that they should actually join your side.
Not to mention that both overall ratings are below 1.0. This is like having a pissing contest where neither competitor is making it into the toilet, but people still mock the other team for not hitting the rim nearly as much as the other. The result doesn’t really affect you and it doesn’t prevent something from being enjoyable specifically to just you, but dammit it’s really-super important for… some reason.
The ratings for AEW and NXT are both under 1.0, so when we’re talking about the difference between the two, we’re talking about a few hundred thousand max. That’s a big deal when we’re talking about how off your next paycheck will be or how much weight you gained after Thanksgiving, but it’s practically nothing in terms of viewer-estimations when they’re already too low to begin with. Not when you’re trying to compare how great your show is versus the other one, anyway. When we’re talking about something so small, what we’re essentially talking about is a niche of a niche of a niche. Instead of trying to make that number bigger, we just scare away potential fans by naming them after sex acts. That’ll teach ‘em! For some reason.
Imagine that you had a favorite color, but you based it on how popular it is with total strangers. Then, when someone shows up supporting another color that’s less popular, you scream schlong nicknames at them. It sounds crazy when you’re associating it with a color, but it’s another day at the office when you’re talking wrestling. Not enough people even bat an eyelash at how weird that is.
Scenario 4: When you’re worried that a show you enjoy could possibly be canceled someday
But then you couldn’t use ratings as a defense for why your show is so great, so never mind.