JerryvonKramer Posted June 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Don't understand why they can't just release number of viewers like they do here. It's easy to see at a stroke then how many people are watching. Surprised viewing figures now seem to be up on those from the 90s -- given that watching live TV has been massively diminished as the primary source of entertainment (see internet, Sky plus, Netflix, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Dixie Carter announced TNA is starting their own Hall of Fame. That should be fantastic. I love this woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Don't understand why they can't just release number of viewers like they do here. It's easy to see at a stroke then how many people are watching. Surprised viewing figures now seem to be up on those from the 90s -- given that watching live TV has been massively diminished as the primary source of entertainment (see internet, Sky plus, Netflix, etc.). You'd be surprised how much of America still didn't have cable television in the early 90's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Don't understand why they can't just release number of viewers like they do here. It's easy to see at a stroke then how many people are watching. Surprised viewing figures now seem to be up on those from the 90s -- given that watching live TV has been massively diminished as the primary source of entertainment (see internet, Sky plus, Netflix, etc.). You'd be surprised how much of America still didn't have cable television in the early 90's Nah, it was way worse in England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 I don't have the exact numbers, but Dave has said that Sting barely moved any merch at all and that it was a running joke in WCW about how the little Stingers didn't actually exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Don't understand why they can't just release number of viewers like they do here. It's easy to see at a stroke then how many people are watching.American ratings seem like they're custom designed to be deliberately difficult to understand. Like, if you're not an insider, then you can't make heads or tails of these numbers; and the industry likes it that way. Of course, lots of people have said that Nielsen numbers are questionable at best anyway. Their process for gathering these statistics is often criticized for being wide open to massive inaccuracies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Don't understand why they can't just release number of viewers like they do here. It's easy to see at a stroke then how many people are watching. Surprised viewing figures now seem to be up on those from the 90s -- given that watching live TV has been massively diminished as the primary source of entertainment (see internet, Sky plus, Netflix, etc.). You'd be surprised how much of America still didn't have cable television in the early 90's Nah, it was way worse in England. Absolutely it was. There was only ever 4 terrestrial channels, 5 from the mid-90s and the vast, VAST majority of people didn't have Sky until the 00s and the advent of digital TV. "Cable" has never been a thing here, it was always satellite operated by Sky, and then digital. Freeview was quite a major deal when it happened. I think that this might also be why viewing figures have been easier to come by in the UK, because every single household has the same channels for the best part and up until recently Sky had a lockdown on most of the other channels. So they could produce pretty accurate figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Morris Posted June 3, 2012 Report Share Posted June 3, 2012 Don't understand why they can't just release number of viewers like they do here. It's easy to see at a stroke then how many people are watching.American ratings seem like they're custom designed to be deliberately difficult to understand. Like, if you're not an insider, then you can't make heads or tails of these numbers; and the industry likes it that way. Of course, lots of people have said that Nielsen numbers are questionable at best anyway. Their process for gathering these statistics is often criticized for being wide open to massive inaccuracies. I remember one time a few years ago when I got one of those Nielsen "TV diaries" in the mail that I was supposed to fill out regarding what shows I watched in a given week and mail it back. It was postage paid, so I figured "eh, why not" and filled it out. Oh, and they sent a few dollar bills to me in the mail along with reminders to mail the diary back. I can picture most people just throwing the diary and reminders away and keeping the money -- even if it's not a large sum of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 WCW was a national promotion. We can argue about where they ran or didn't run and the success they did or didn't have. But they had national tv, national coverage in the wrestling magazines and the ability to promote over a huge geographical area that spanned outside of the Southeast. It's possible that ECW had a larger "base" at times late in their run than WCW did at their low point, but does anyone really think ECW was "more" of a national promotion? Hell I think the AWA even as far back as the late 70s/early 80's is damn close to a "national" promotion despite the lack of tv and wrestling coverage when you consider the breadth of their operation (Oakland, Vegas, SLC, Denver, Omaha, Chicago, Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Winnipeg) and the fact that their champ was a "touring" champ In 1991, WCW hyped three things (well four if you count the hotline). PPVs, Clashes, and Omni shows. They really hyped the hell out of Omni shows, each and every one of them. Honestly, I think more important things happened in the Omni than on PPV. If not, then close to it. I'm not saying that doesn't make them national, but it's very different than what WWF was doing at the time and what WCW would be doing later in the decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 So they hyped two national things and a local thing directly tied to their home market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 I'm not saying they weren't a National promotion so much as I'm implying that we might take for granted how regional they still were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 Who is taking that for granted? Back then I saw WCW a dozen or more times a year without traveling more than an hour and a half from my home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Dylan is correct: WCW in 1991 was a national promotion. Just one that did pretty shitty business. But it was far from a regional promotion. http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw91.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Mann Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 You know what would be interesting ... and it's almost certainly impossible, I would think ... would be if you could go back and look at the data and compile a Wrestling GDP for each year: Getting a sense of how much money was drawn in the wrestling industry each year and through what revenue streams, and what percentage each promotion was responsible for gathering it. Again, I'm sure it would be impossible to do. But this thread made me think of what a valuable thing that might be to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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