Guest Dangerous A Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 ... 0.8 Thoughts? Opinions? Looks like a steady number right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 They're showing they can hold an audience over a 3 week period. That has to be pleasing to Spike and the Carters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheShawshankRudotion Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 TNA is in this really tough position with their television. They use TV to build their PPVs, which is supposed to be the objective of the TV since they make their money off PPV. However, they need to start building TV because the past few weeks have been so PPV-centric that, for someone who isn't going to buy the PPV such as myself, how they build their shows isn't very interesting. It's not that the shows are boring or particularly bad, it's just they feel so rushed because TNA is trying to get over every angle for their PPV. They cram so much into 40 minutes of television that there isn't anything captivating, and they don't let anything breathe. So do they continue to follow the "PPV Building" format and risk losing some of their TV audience, or should they put more emphasis on TV and try to get that 0.8 higher? Yes, a balance can be struck, but IMO, with monthly PPV's and only -what- 4 hours to build them, I think it's pretty futile to follow the PPV Building format. Even though PPV is their main source of revenue, at this stage in their television life, IMPACT! should be their first priority with their PPV's being secondary. They have way too many wrestlers, period. Compared to the WWE -who has 2 hours a week to build their characters-, they have the right amount, but compared to most shows on television, the cast of characters is absurd. There are too many faces to remember, too much stuff going on, and a lot getting lost in the shuffle. TNA would benefit greatly if they trimmed the fat and tightened up the show. Granted, this is their first month in operation and there will be a learning curve. They want to get all their characters over with the audience as fast as possible, plus they have 2 or 3 years of history that hasn't been presented on national television and are continuing storylines that started before IMPACT!. It will take a while before they 'start fresh' so to speak with brand new storylines. But this is television, and the audience -even if they are wrestling fans- are fickle and won't stay long. They need to learn quicker, in my view. They need to structure their shows better and come up with their own formula rather than using the WWE's to build their shows. They need to build next weeks show rather than next months PPV, they need to start delivering on television to show that they can deliver on PPV. The last show had 3 of the 4 matches ending the same way -with the heels back-peddling on the stage while the face was in the ring. That's unacceptable and is indictative of their PPV-focused approach. They can't sacrifice TV for their PPV, not at this stage in the game. I will also say that PPV's don't need to be stacked for people to want to see them. The UFC model has been pretty successful of building 2 fights with an undercard meant to build challengers in the future. I know there are lots of factors involved that makes the two scenarios different, but I think if TNA just focuses on 2 or 3 storylines to build 2 or 3 matches for their PPV - and makes the fans want to see those 2 or 3 matches - then they will get more buys than trying to build 5 or 6 matches with much less effort and force behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KingPK Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 I think after Bound for Glory we'll start to see TNA slow down a bit and start building more angles for the TV show instead of using it as a vehicle for PPVs. They're getting zero ad revenue from TV, so it is understandable if they want to use Impact to get as many buys as possible for their marquee PPV, especially when it is going to be available to a whole new audience. They HAVE been doing a fairly good job building from week to week though. I'm pumped to watch Samoa Joe's debut next week. Spike will probably give them a two hour run sooner than later if they can show that they can keep (or better, build even more of) an audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 TNA may need to take a page from Paul Heyman in how to do a one hour show since ECW's show's were one hour and current OVW is one hour and Heyman gets storylines and characters over just fine in the one hour format. However, Heyman doesn't have a once a month ppv to build towards either. This leads me to believe that TNA, at least from a booking and creative standpoint, should NOT be doing monthly ppv's and switch to doing a ppv every other month or so. The problem with that is, the current business model has ppv revenue as a high priority because they don't get ad revenue with the deal they have with Spike. Still, for their future, if they are in this for the long haul, they should do ppv's every other month and build up their wrestlers, television, and brand of wrestling. After you start to see growth in viewership and start to build your drawing cards like Joe or Monty or whoever, then you can start to look towards once a month ppv's. For now, the ppv market is oversaturated with WWE doing once a month and UFC and Pride doing one every quarter or so. TNA, like Rudo has been saying, needs to build their people and TV as their #1 priority. My God, that was refreshing to let out and not have fear of rampant stupidity to potentially follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World's Worst Man Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 I'm glad they're staying steady, and hopefully they build their audience through their PPVs. And how do they do that? Because their PPVs have been really good lately, while their TV shows have not. If they put out another strong effort, I think it will really win over anyone who was on the fence about the promotion. From there they need to start having tighter, well put together TV programming to go along with their excellent PPV product. Once they do that, I believe they'll really start building a bigger audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dorian Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 For now, the ppv market is oversaturated with WWE doing once a month and UFC and Pride doing one every quarter or so. TNA, like Rudo has been saying, needs to build their people and TV as their #1 priority. My God, that was refreshing to let out and not have fear of rampant stupidity to potentially follow. I agree with you on the PPV market being oversaturated. But the problem is neither WWE nor TNA know how to plan for a two month or longer lapse between PPVs and this is why we've got oversaturation. I bet if TNA or WWE could actually plan a PPV every two months, they would be able to bank on their matches incredibly more so because everyone would be dying for the matches to happen. Although they need to focus on the TV like Rudo and you point out, but at the same point, they've gotta get the backstory in and three years worth is a lot to fill in. And yes, its nice to have an intelligent conversation and no idiots around. ...sooner or later I will watch an episode of TNA IMPACT!. Just need to stop being lazy and find the damn thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheShawshankRudotion Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 I think after Bound for Glory we'll start to see TNA slow down a bit and start building more angles for the TV show instead of using it as a vehicle for PPVs. They're getting zero ad revenue from TV, so it is understandable if they want to use Impact to get as many buys as possible for their marquee PPV, especially when it is going to be available to a whole new audience. Things will improve after BFG because they won't have to be introducing their characters while pushing storylines, which will allow them to focus more on storylines. But the problem will still remain which is a limited amount of time to push too many storylines and wrestlers. I don't know when their next PPV is after BFG, but I imagine it will only be 4 shows (4 weeks in a month) which is _not_ enough time to do what they want to do. Think of it. Show 1: Aftermatch from BFG/Setting up new and potential feuds Show 2: Setting up new and potential feuds/continuing the ones from show 1 Show: 3: Build Show 4: Sell the PPV That's not a lot of time, especially when you only have 1 show to let things breathe. They HAVE been doing a fairly good job building from week to week though. I'm pumped to watch Samoa Joe's debut next week. Spike will probably give them a two hour run sooner than later if they can show that they can keep (or better, build even more of) an audience. Joe is pretty much the only thing they've been _building_ week to week. And it's been in such small doses that I don't really know how effective it is on Joe Wrestlingfan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheShawshankRudotion Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 TNA may need to take a page from Paul Heyman in how to do a one hour show since ECW's show's were one hour and current OVW is one hour and Heyman gets storylines and characters over just fine in the one hour format. However, Heyman doesn't have a once a month ppv to build towards either. This leads me to believe that TNA, at least from a booking and creative standpoint, should NOT be doing monthly ppv's and switch to doing a ppv every other month or so. The problem with that is, the current business model has ppv revenue as a high priority because they don't get ad revenue with the deal they have with Spike. Still, for their future, if they are in this for the long haul, they should do ppv's every other month and build up their wrestlers, television, and brand of wrestling. After you start to see growth in viewership and start to build your drawing cards like Joe or Monty or whoever, then you can start to look towards once a month ppv's. For now, the ppv market is oversaturated with WWE doing once a month and UFC and Pride doing one every quarter or so. TNA, like Rudo has been saying, needs to build their people and TV as their #1 priority. My God, that was refreshing to let out and not have fear of rampant stupidity to potentially follow. They'd have to do a cost/benefit analysis of cutting their PPV's in half. Could they get double (or more) buys? I don't know what they're currently getting for PPV, but I think it's definitely something to consider. 8 hours to build a PPV is better than 4. They would allow things to play through, for twists to develop, and they won't have to resort to cliches like the ones they did last week just because they needed something quick and effective to build a match. They could also build and shape the whole card so they can sell a "stacked" PPV, which may attract fans away from WWE's rather "light" PPVs. It would also afford them to build their TV and grab higher ratings. Put a huge match on TV and see how it does. Things would certainly move much more smoothly if they didn't have a PPV that the majority of the audience won't see making some big changes and off-setting TV. Writing for that long could either be a blessing or a curse, though, depending on who is doing it. Some people would marvel at that much time to let things unfold and develop, while others would see it as a necessary evil and fill it with junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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