Raw rating crashes - 2.5 for 7/30 show

[Bix]

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/3962/105/

 

Raw on Monday night did a 2.5 rating (not a typo) with a 1.83 in males 18-49, a 1.99 in males 18-34, and 3.4 million viewers. Lowest Raw ratings since moving to USA, and the demo levels were 1/2 point lower than the previous lowest. Expect complete insanity.

Lowest non-holiday rating in almost 10 years.

[kjh]

I'd say WWE is right to be extremely worried by this. Bonnie Hammer of the USA network was already known to be frustrated about Raw's soft ratings. If Raw's ratings continue to crash, cancellation of the show, the ultimate Doomsday scenario for the company, is definitely a possibility, especially with more bad publicity seeming inevitable.

[Loss]

There is going to be a ton of pressure on the returning big names to deliver in a big way. WWE I don't see panicking yet, just because I think they think the returns of HHH, Michaels, Taker and Rey will save them.

 

But yeah, WCW Nitro 2000-level ratings are probably the last thing they want right now.

[Bix]

I'd say WWE is right to be extremely worried by this. Bonnie Hammer of the USA network was already known to be frustrated about Raw's soft ratings. If Raw's ratings continue to crash, cancellation of the show, the ultimate Doomsday scenario for the company, is definitely a possibility, especially with more bad publicity seeming inevitable.

Especially since USA is now able to successfully develop original shows and needs WWE less than it ever has in the previous quarter century.

[Jingus]

Good. How long has the WWE been coasting on name recognition and industrial monopoly? Maybe if the ratings start to tank again, Vince will wake up and realize, ala 1997, that the product he's currently presenting just isn't good enough.

[sek69]

This past week aside, does anything on USA come close to the usual RAW rating? I'd guess Monk probably does, but not much else. I don't think USA would just toss WWE aside when they have a pretty sweet deal (don't they get all the ad revenue?) and good ratings. If anything, this just means WWE has less leverage when it comes time to negotiate a new contract. I could see USA possibly cutting bait if any more bad PR comes out against WWE, but I don't think ratings alone will spell anyone's doom.

 

 

What sucks is that RAW has been on a roll lately, and I hope the ratings don't cause a panic where everything currently being done is scrapped for more EDGY~! programming.

[kjh]

There is going to be a ton of pressure on the returning big names to deliver in a big way. WWE I don't see panicking yet, just because I think they think the returns of HHH, Michaels, Taker and Rey will save them.

 

But yeah, WCW Nitro 2000-level ratings are probably the last thing they want right now.

Of course, one of the problems with WCW was they continued to push the same stale acts on top for too long, so I don't think any of those returns will be enough to save them unless they are really well booked.

 

Early indications aren't good though. Triple H's return programs against Booker and Orton are two feuds that have been done before. Moreover, he dominated both those feuds and one can argue that neither Booker nor Orton have fully recovered from their mishandling in those feuds. I don't sense anyone itching to see those matches again. Meanwhile, Rey is set to return at SummerSlam against Chavo. Though that match makes storyline sense, they haven't protected Chavo well since Rey has been gone. After losing to Benoit on a regular basis last autumn, he's been stuck in cruiserweight purgatory.

[tomk]

don't see panicking yet, just because I think they think the returns of HHH, Michaels, Taker and Rey will save them.

For all his supposed backstage "smartness" HHH isn't Hogan.

If Hogan saw 2.5 ratings he wouldn't return. He'd claim he was running for president.

Not sure if HHH buys his own hype enough to think that he is actual ratings savior. Does he?

My assumption is that HBK and Undertaker are smart enough to not want to do their in ring returns during a ratings slide. They may need to take some more time off.

[Bix]

This past week aside, does anything on USA come close to the usual RAW rating? I'd guess Monk probably does, but not much else.

Monk actually beat Raw last week (and I'm guessing it has since the season started):

 

5. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.64 million homes, 5.01 million viewers.

11. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.29 million homes, 4.8 million viewers.

 

I don't think USA would just toss WWE aside when they have a pretty sweet deal (don't they get all the ad revenue?) and good ratings.

Ad revenue for wrestling is REALLY low. A 2.5 for Raw gets them a lot less money than a 2.5 would for Dead Zone.

[Tim Evans]

Well it seems like Vince is coming back on Monday. Not a moment too soon I say.

[Guest KingPK]

I don't think USA would just toss WWE aside when they have a pretty sweet deal (don't they get all the ad revenue?) and good ratings.

Ad revenue for wrestling is REALLY low. A 2.5 for Raw gets them a lot less money than a 2.5 would for Dead Zone.

 

I think this point needs to be emphasized.

[Bix]

It's Scherer, so take it with a big container of kosher salt, but...

 

MONDAY'S RATING MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AS BAD AS REPORTED, WWE STILL TAKING ACTION TO IMPROVE THE SHOWS

by Dave Scherer @ 7:28:27 PM on 8/2/2007

 

For those who have emailed (and there sure have been a lot of you since I got home from being out today), yes, Vince McMahon's appearance on Raw this Monday and the announcement of it is definitely being done in an effort to boost the ratings after the disastrous numbers that they possibly delivered this week came to light. The creative team is feeling the heat for the ratings freefall up in Titan Towers but, to his credit, sources have told me that Vince realizes many of his people have been writing to "please him" and now that the numbers have dropped to alarming levels, he is finally said to be ready to listen to ideas that don't conform to his cookie cutter way of presenting WWE. We can only hope that leads to much-needed change in the programs.

 

With that said, I should also tell you that I have heard from two sources that Nielsen has contacted a number of programmers and said that there was a problem (glitch) in Monday's ratings, as I suspected may be the case. I am not sure what the extent of it is, but as I said yesterday, I wouldn't be shocked to find out that there was a problem since the drop was so huge. I have heard that Nielsen has contacted WWE about it but with the three straight weeks of 3.4s for Raw prior to this week, WWE does realize that there is a real problem with the make up of their shows and are working on doing what they can to fix them, regardless of whether there was a big drop on Monday or not.

[Bix]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...32a93f3ac8898f3

 

Nielsen error slows USA Net ratings

By Paul J. Gough

 

Aug 4, 2007

NEW YORK -- A glitch in Nielsen Media Research equipment led to lower-than-normal ratings for USA Network for five days last week.

 

Nielsen confirmed Friday that an "equipment issue" was to blame for the problems, which underreported USA Network ratings from July 28-Aug. 1. The nature of the equipment problems wasn't clear.

 

A Nielsen spokeswoman said that the underreporting only affected USA Network and that it had been corrected Thursday and was now providing accurate information. Nielsen also was working on providing new ratings for the affected five days.

 

"We are looking into a way to recover that information," a Nielsen spokeswoman said Friday.

 

Nielsen and WWE, whose program "Raw" is on the USA Network, said a new rating would come at some point. This past week's "Raw" episode showed a dramatic drop from a 3.4 household rating to a 2.5 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research.

 

USA Network couldn't be reached for comment late Friday.

Did any cable systems suddenly move USA around?

[sek69]

USA is on the expanded basic tier on most (if not all) cable systems, and those channels haven't been moved in years.