http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/17637/
Raw rating
2.8 - lowest number in two years
http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/17637/
Raw rating
2.8 - lowest number in two years
Not at all surprised, really.
Shame, as it was a really good show.
You'd think it would be much higher considering Orton is the new champion....right?
Nobody in the outside world gives a flying shit about Randy Orton, he's not going to up ratings.
Ha, this is exactly what I thought would happen after Night of Champions.
Ouch.... that's pretty abysmal.
I didn't think it was a great show. Far from awful, but pretty much middle of the road. There's some stuff going on that I like, but an awful lot of crap as well. I'm really digging Wade Barret and one or two of the other NXT guys, Orton is stagnating for me a bit, but I still enjoy him. Miz and Daniel Bryan are pretty awesome right now...
The divas stuff is trash, they're trying with the tag teams but it's not working for me. Some of the lower-midcard stuff is garbage too. I wish they'd use guys like Goldust and Regal more, and maybe even Santino and Kozlov since the fans take to them. I know they're trying to make new guys, and with Sheamus and Wade Barret they're succeding, but I'd still like to see some of the vets and/or guys with some personality shine a bit more. If they're there and they're proven successful, use them.
I don't care about ratings. It's professional-not-as-good-college-football-but-people-still-like-it-anyway season. And IT IS IN PRIME-TIME, GUYS! In general, people like real sports over fake sports. It will always be that way.
The Nielsen ratings are bull-shit. That's pretty much a fact at this point.
I BET TRIPLE H WILL MAKE EVRYONE WATCH AGAIN! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GAME AND BLUPPY BLUPPY! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GAME AND YOU CAN'T BLUPPY!
Last edited by Beer-Belly; September 22nd, 2010 at 2:49 AM.
Now TNA's 1.2's don't look so bad, eh? Compared to Smackdown's 1.7's and Raw's new low 2.8.... A 1.2 looks pretty damn good next to that.
I remember Dixie saying a while back that passing by Smackdown in the ratings was next on their agenda. They were/are already handily beating ECW, Superstars and nXt.
Beating Raw in the future was her ultimate goal though.
Wow, that was the first RAW I've watched in a while that I found interesting, but that's probably because I missed Night Of Champions and stuff actually happened at the pay-per-view.
I can't say WWE don't deserve that rating though. Their programming is so tired and repetitive; they've really brought it on themselves.
Superman to the rescue. I wonder how long it will take the WWE to blame this on Cena not being the Champion.
Wrestling isn't high on the popularity listing right now, so I'm not shocked. I don't even think it's the quality of the show that's dragging them down. It really hasn't been too bad lately. It's just a general malaise with WWE's completely predictable product. I know that I’ve personally not felt the need to watch Raw lately and have contemplated tuning out for a while, despite the fact I can’t really complain about anything specific that they are doing. If a 20+ year fan of wrestling feels that way, I’m not surprised that others do to.
This was also premiere week in the US for the new fall season, which should be taken into account.
This makes having another PPV so quickly look even more ridiculous…
Take the belt of Sheamus and ratings drop.
Originally Posted by Matty C
Superman to the rescue. I wonder how long it will take the WWE to blame this on Cena not being the Champion.
Wrestling isn't high on the popularity listing right now, so I'm not shocked. I don't even think it's the quality of the show that's dragging them down. It really hasn't been too bad lately. It's just a general malaise with WWE's completely predictable product. I know that I’ve personally not felt the need to watch Raw lately and have contemplated tuning out for a while, despite the fact I can’t really complain about anything specific that they are doing. If a 20+ year fan of wrestling feels that way, I’m not surprised that others do to.
This was also premiere week in the US for the new fall season, which should be taken into account.
This makes having another PPV so quickly look even more ridiculous…
This is pretty much how I see it. Though I would add that WWE is currently in the process of building a host of new stars after losing some fairly popular mainstays. Its been a summer of transition and these things take time to adjust.
I am curious to know what Defrost thinks though given that he has consistently rated recent RAWs at 1 in the polls. Then of course he opens up an entire thread devoted to the low raw rating.
Matty C put it perfectly. I only ever watch anymore out of habit but even then I miss it all the time and don't even care that I do. Sometimes I'll have it on and it's just SOOOO boring and corny that I just can't stomach it.
I wish I could be into it again, I spent many years as a very loyal fan.
I have? I only remember voting once recently and that was more of a reaction to people trying to justify just how badly the Nexus angle has been booked more than anything else.
Raw Intermission and Raw Roulette you voted a 1 on both. Also, you never struck me as the sort of person who would rank things out of emotion or protest.
I haven't watched a full RAW in over a year, and over the summer I tried a couple of times but could genuinely only stand a minute or two of it. Boring and corny are pretty good words to describe it. And, while it's an easy charge to make, I do at least partially blame the show going PG. Not because I think we need blood and boobies (though the women are still treated as sex objects, just with less specific dialogue from the obnoxious announcers) to make a show enjoyable, but because I think the writers and the company at large seem to think that if you're making something suitable for children it should be written for idiots and idiots alone. Contrast this with the likes of Pixar, or George Lucas before he got a computer, who produced movies that were suitable for children while at the same time not being horrendously hokey and painful for adults.
Do I expect Toy Story or The Empire Strikes Back every week? Of course not, but I cannot watch something that has become a parody of the worst of itself. As I said, I don't watch RAW anymore other than a glimpse or two over the summer, and maybe I got unlucky with those segments and maybe the show is, overall, much better. But I can't even be bothered finding out, and I'm a big wrestling fan. I watch DVDs and matches on Youtube regularly. I watch Impact. I like wrestling, but I feel as though WWE has divorced itself from the thing, even if they're still living together. I've given up on Smackdown a week or two ago as well. It's probably not good for them that they wore me out so much I just don't feel like giving them another chance at the moment, and clearly their shows are not a priority to many other people if the new fall schedule creates this kind of crater in their ratings.
They are not only missing the urgency that made wrestling something that needed to be watched, I believe they are pushing people away with their hackneyed style that makes them embarrassed to be caught watching it and their unceasing demands for more and more of our time and money. Two PPVs in the space of a fortnight is outrageous, and their prices are ridiculous for two and a half hours of middling entertainment.
Well this turned into more of a rant than I meant it to, and some of it is likely harsh, but WWE have pushed my buttons lately. I'm not angry, really, just disappointed. It's like seeing an old friend turn into someone else. WWE are moving on into a form that I have no interest in, and I have to accept that, even if it is frustrating. Unfortunately for the company, it doesn't appear to be a positive move as of yet. It's not killing them, of course, but it's not helping.
WWE Superstars is the best WWE show for me. None of the poorly written and performed dialogue, lame attempts at humor, clueless guest hosts etc. Just plain, good old rasslin'.
I've been a loyal fan for 20+ years. There's no way I'm ever going to stray away from the WWE. If WWE dies, I'm done with pro wrestling.
And Regal.
Regal and Goldust.
They should trade places more often. In fact have a feud where whoever wins the next match they have to trade places until Regal wins a match, which could go on for up to a year or more.
Since when did we as fans care about ratings, especially during NFL season? You had the super bowl champs playing against the 49ers who have a giant fanbase as well.....Not surprising this wasn't the best night for Raw. 2 years? It wasn't a bad show, not as bad as most have been the last 4-5 months that's for sure. 2 years ago at this time though the product was really really good, Jericho/HBK that kind of stuff, so I wouldn't make too much of a big deal about this.
I remember during the MNW's I was almost more interested in the Raw/Nitro ratings than the actual shows.
Yeah, the Saints really have become this popular on a national level, plus absolutely no one was watching this in the Bay Area. A 2.8's pretty bad, but it's fairly easily explained away.
Where are the "Did You Know?"s about RAW beating MNF now, though?
I was in a bad mood during that Raw Roulette with the Jets and Yankees playing like shit at the same time. The show did totally suck. Singing Dance offs, everyone looking like a goof in the main event, etc.
I cared a lot about ratings back in 1997 - 1999... it's not the same now, since TNA is WWE's closes competition, but Considering how much the numbers have dropped over the years, I'm conditioned to believing anything below a 3 is pretty bad. We are getting close to the ratings that WCW was getting when it was at its absolute most dire.
TNA has been the top wrestling company in the world for forever now. Better ratings than Smackdown!!!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8uBY6dLXVQ"]YouTube - Cactus Jack- Lost in Cleveland Part 1[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tQ2p91aWdA"]YouTube - Cactus Jack- Lost in Cleveland Part 2[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQbrEtxH_mQ"]YouTube - FB 93- Review of Cactus/Vader Feud[/ame]
Cactus Cewsh?
HahA that was a good feud for WCW
Showed that Mick Foley could act!
It's more difficult to compare broadcast ratings for SmackDown with cable ratings for Impact. Even so, SD is definitely beating Impact. With Raw getting a 2.8, SD probably only needs a 1.8 or 1.9 to be practically neck-and-neck.
Yeah, wasn't SD actually almost beating Raw for a while in the ratings a while back?
Yup, 2.8 would be a pretty standard rating for Nitro in 2000. Of course it would also have been a fairly good rating in 1997 when wrestling wasn't very hot but the product was very good.
In 2000 wrestling was hot but the WCW product was poor.
In 1997 wrestling wasn't hot but the WWF product was very good.
In 2010 wrestling isn't hot and the WWE product fairly poor.
The ratings between the three eras are still pretty comparable.
So where am I going with this? No idea actually.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS?
Wrestling fans are going to watch wrestling, no matter how shitty it is. Is that the point?
When you think about it, it is pretty amazing. They went from edgy sex and violence to PG. It would be like you were watching The Shield for years then you turned it on one day and it was Power Rangers PD. It would never survive.
Problem is that there is a severe lack of options for wrestling fans. If a tv show for some reason doesn't tickle your fanny anymore you can just grab the remote and find 300 others instead. If you're not feeling the WWE product anymore there pretty much is only TNA being the alternative. I'm not even including ROH on HDNet because from what I understand only a grand total of 17 people actually get HDNet.
Unlike back in the NWA/WCW days I have a feeling most WWE fans hardly even knows about TNA's existence.
I get that feeling too. I really think that 85% of WWE's fanbase doesn't know about TNA.
This really sums up a big part of what I was saying earlier very well. It is pretty jarring to see the product I like morph into what is in essence a very different product.
This is a good point as well. I agree that it sadly seems as though most WWE fans don't know TNA exists, and at this point the two are so markedly different I'm not sure a high portion of WWE fans would actually want to watch TNA (or be allowed to by their parents). I'm lucky that I can find other options, such as TNA, ROH and SHIMMER, plus there's always the net to scour for matches from all over the world. But I am pretty sure if I didn't have these avenues I'd still be watching WWE, still suffering through RAW, and still hoping to find the occasional nugget in the mire. Doing that was exhausting, and I'm done with it for now, but I fear that WWE's monopoly has a lot of people who want to watch wrestling feeling trapped.
I really wish WCW had survived in some manner. Even if it were still under McMahon's ultimate authority, if he had been able to cut it a little slack (not and let it maintain its distinction as a brand, we'd probably have a bit more spice in wrestling television. It had name recognition and history, people knew it was there and they knew that if RAW wasn't much fun at the minute they could tune in to Nitro. All the better if Bisch had got hold of the company and kept Nitro on the air, directly competing with RAW. That 'other option' that people know they have served as a check to the WWE's laziness and indulgences, I always felt. It didn't work every time, such as with the Billionaire Ted skits, but I doubt we would have had so much of the musical chairs and dance offs and pose downs and all the other embarrassing junk segments that have become the norm over the years since WCW died.
TNA, unfortunately, is barely a blip on the radar screen and does not appear to provide that kind of counterweight at all. They just do not have the presence of WCW in the consciousness of wrestling fans, so I don't see a lot of people saying "enough of this, I'm going to watch TNA instead" except disillusioned wrestling fanatics like me who took years and years to wear down, and already knew of TNA a long time ago.
For some reason I read this in a Jack Bauer voice. I was scared.
I think with the internet and such, 98% of wrestling fans know of TNA's existense. Some kid might be like "Mom, what happened to Mickie James" and the MILF will look it up and say oh wikipedia says she signed with TNA. "What's TNA?"
I have to agree with that actually. Most people outside of the wrestling world more-than-likely have no idea what TNA is but wrestling fans surely do.
Not counting young children here (which may have defeated my side of the argument as they are the bulk of modern-day wrestling fans).
Last edited by Mark Hammer; September 23rd, 2010 at 10:08 AM.
TNA's 1.7 for the first hour in January proves people know about TNA.
Yeah you guys bring up a good point. I guess it wouldn't be right to say people don't know of TNA's existence, but they just don't seem to regard it as a true alternative. It hasn't permeated the collective consciousness of the wrestling world like a WCW or ECW managed to do.
It's important to remember that WCW only managed that for a short period of time, and you could argue that ECW didn't actually manage it until it was already dead and buried. WWE has always been wrestling in the mainstream, ever since they decided that territories were for the birds and national television was the only way to go.
It probably is a combination of factors including the variety of other alternatives to WWE during the age of communication, personal tastes, as well as the now unquestionable reputation WWE has for ultimately defeating its competition. Almost makes one throw up there hands and say "why bother with TNA if in the end they're going to go under."
With Raw anymore, I'm not worried about missing a week. Years ago, there was much more of a sense of "If I skip this week I might miss an interesting plot twist, turn or swerve". Now obviously, the out of nowhere turns got taken to an extreme for a while. But used within reason a sudden change of direction, can provide motivation to regularly tune in. Trying to think back, the only times I've been genuinely very caught off-guard by something was the first Nexus appearance and last week o NXT when Kaitlyn showed she has a better spear than Edge.Superman to the rescue. I wonder how long it will take the WWE to blame this on Cena not being the Champion.
Wrestling isn't high on the popularity listing right now, so I'm not shocked. I don't even think it's the quality of the show that's dragging them down. It really hasn't been too bad lately. It's just a general malaise with WWE's completely predictable product. I know that I’ve personally not felt the need to watch Raw lately and have contemplated tuning out for a while, despite the fact I can’t really complain about anything specific that they are doing. If a 20+ year fan of wrestling feels that way, I’m not surprised that others do to.
This was also premiere week in the US for the new fall season, which should be taken into account.
This makes having another PPV so quickly look even more ridiculous…
The other factor to keep in mind is a general trend in ratings declining. It takes less viewership to be considered a "Hit show" than it did ten or more years ago.
If you take the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's viewership from when it was about the 20th most popular show, and move it today's market, you have a top 5 show. So, we may not see the numbers from the Attitude era again.
So how much did it drop again this week?
I have never watched The Shield, but i'd gladly tune in if it became Power Rangers PD.
A show about Power Rangers that are cops may be your dream come true.
BOOM CHICKA LICKA
I'm really not trying to be a negative nancy here but I have to be honest. I tried watching Raw this week, after about 10 minutes of it I had to change the channel because it was so over-the-top corny I couldn't stomach anymoreAnd I had been a dedicated WWF/E fan since 95.
Really does get me down a bit thinking about it.
Last edited by Mark Hammer; September 28th, 2010 at 10:14 PM. Reason: Oops
If it makes you feel any better I skipped out on RAW to do homework. There was a point in my life where nothing came before RAW and now it's come to this...
Yep. Definitely HATED anytime I'd be forced to miss an episode back in the day. Now I'd hate to be forced to watch it.
That segment was pretty good comedy, Hammer.
Last edited by mth; September 28th, 2010 at 10:12 PM.
Different strokes. I wish there could have been a happy medium with their new direction.
On the plus side:
2.37 this week
I'd wager Vince can afford a new computer.
2.37 this week
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dddAi8FF3F4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dddAi8FF3F4[/ame]
I think it's clear that the reason for the sagging ratings is Jericho taking a break.
Hopefully they'll rely on Smackdown a bit more. It seems likely that the third brand idea isn't going to work.
Is it time to unify the RAW/Smackdown brands again?
It's amazing what difference a little over a year makes - We had DX, ECW/Raw/SD championships on PPVs, etc.
Now with Jericho taking a break, SM retired, HHH out for a while, Matt Hardy gone (?), Batista gone what will they do?
f4wonline has the rating at 2.7 instead of 2.37. I'm more inclined to believe the 2.7. The Bears vs the Packers and the fact that RAW was taped took a toll but not that massive of a toll.
TVByTheNumbers seems to back the original:
linkWWE Raw (9pm)
- 3.724 million viewers
- 2.3/3 HH
- 1.4/3 A18-49
WWE Raw (10pm, 67 minutes)
- 3.879 million viewers
- 2.4/4 HH
- 1.4/4 A18-49
Last edited by airborne; September 28th, 2010 at 10:40 PM.
Well then
After reading up on it the game on Monday did incredible numbers, and since wrestling obviously shares a demographic perhaps the drop isn't as bad as it seems. Still not good, but you can't base ratings numbers on an aberration
Raw still seems to have drawn twice the viewership as anything else on cable last night.
The rating was bad, but the football game was great AND Raw was prerecorded. Everything added up to a poor rating. Unless the rating drops again next week (which I don't imagine it will), this is a small issue.
Looking ahead at the MNF schedule
Raw is so fucked these weeksWeek 4 - Patriots at Dolphins
Week 5 - Vikings at Jets
Week 7 - Giants at Cowboys
Week 9 - Steelers at Bengals
Week 10 - Eagles at Redskins
Week 13 - Jets at Patriots
Week 15 - Bears at Vikings
Record football weeks and tapings aside, the worst ratings in more than a decade will have some sort of effect, even if it is only symbolic.
I would imagine that it led to Vince throwing things and swearing a lot. It might even lead to him doing something drastic and quite possibly stupid. So, you're correct. I shouldn't have called it a small issue. I should have said that it really should have been a small issue, but that doesn't mean that it will be.
Maybe it will lead to something actually surprising happening.
I'm talking Cena joins Nexus and screws Orton out of the Title surprising.
Is anyone sure Vince even knows or cares that much? It seems like to me he and Linda only care about the political scene and her winning the senate spot in Connecticut. I dont know how many of you remember, I started watching wrestling in 1991.. Vince and the WWF seemed to be focussed on covering their asses about steroids, the WBF, and just staying alive from 1992-1995. I think the distractions hurt the company and product. It seems to be repeating itself again and this time, more stale..
I hope that the WWE realizes its booking is terrible, doesnt try to do any hot shot angles, (like mcmahons $ giveaway, fake death, guest hosts) and finally realize this method currently is not working
The fake death could have been great if it wasn't for Benoit dying.
I'm assuming it was a 2.73 but has been reported as a 2.37, but fair enough that tvbythenumbers seems to back the lower number.
People can claim a lot of things about Vince McMahon, but to suggest he doesn't care anyone is just total bullshit. He lives to be WWE Chairman, to maintain his power, to make more money, etc. Of course he wants higher Raw ratings. Just because he seems to have lost touch with what wrestling fans want to see doesn't mean he has stopped caring.
This is what Bryan Alverez said about the 2.7 vs 2.37 argument
The show did a 2.7.
Wade is looking at the household rating, which is different from the cable rating. Last week's Raw household rating was a 2.4 for the first hour and a 2.4 for the second hour. But the cable rating, which is the number everyone normally uses every week, was a 2.77 for the first hour and a 2.82 for the second hour. We'll have the exact cable ratings for this week's show tomorrow.
This is true, after looking at the TVByTheNumbers this week compared to last week (in general the viewers only slightly dropped). Funny how many wrestling news website front pages it made
It's not that funny really. It's totally normal for online pro-wrestling press to report the bleakest spin on just about everything they get word of.
I didn't think so. I agree with Hammer completely.
The WWE can afford a new computer. The computer wasn't the GM, it's just a conduit for the GM. If they actually play it out as the computer being wrecked cutting the GMs tie to Raw, I'm done.
Considering they got rid of Fake Kane by literally shoving him out of the arena exit into the parking lot, I wouldn't be surprised if they are done with the GM.
Trips will come back and start DX2010 with Hornswoggle playing the part of Shawn Michaels.
The solution: the return of the Kiss My Ass club.
Hmm, wait, WWE is now PG.
Kiss My Doody Hole club?
Kiss My Booty Club?
Kiss My Doody Hole club would get me back into WWE.
Kiss my bum bum?
Kiss My Bottom club.
They could bring back Diva pillow fights, but instead of lingerie they wear flannel pajamas with feet.
I'm excited.
When ratings are down, you bring in the heavy hitters.
Pee-wee Herman will be hosting Raw on November 1.
So long as we get a "tell'em large Marge sent ya" joke, I'm cool with that.
Kenny Powers will be hosting soon. They'll get at least a 7.0 that week.When ratings are down, you bring in the heavy hitters.
Pee-wee Herman will be hosting Raw on November 1.
When will Barney the Dinosaur be hosting?
Just after a real T-Rex does.
Reverting to TV-14 won't magically make the shows great.
I agree with that. But TV-PG (at least the shit they're feeding us currently) will never succeed.
Elmo needs to host, and the set can be drawn with crayons like on Elmo's World.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe0MHrRg_Qo"]YouTube - Elmo s World TV Opening Theme[/ame]
Elmo loves his goldfish, and John Cena, too.
If they cut out the "comedy", the shows would be much better. I'd rather watch today's product than the painful days of H.L.A.
Amen to that second sentence. And I don't want them to cut out the comedy, 'cuz a good amount of it is hilarious.
There are nights where the comedy to me is the only redeeming thing. Not as much now, but a couple years ago there were nights where the random laugh here or there were the only highlights.
Things are getting a bit better on the action side of things now, but I feel like most of the storylines are super generic and safe. Miz vs. DB is proof that you don't necessarily need risque storylines or anything outlandish: just good characters/wrestlers with a decent story going on.
I can't stand the comedy. Santino is a good character, but almost everything else is shit. My balls hurt when the laptop started making lame jokes. I don't know why they think the fans will side with a computer over someone like Edge.
I watch RAW for Randy, Bryan, Miz, Sheamus, Edge, Jericho, and a few others.
They should go back to TV-14, but they should acknowledge that the show won't always be a cocktail of blood and titties.
Turning Cena heel would spring up some interest.
Last edited by Beer-Belly; September 29th, 2010 at 8:45 PM.
It seems like WWE has decided that they are going to move in cycles. I wonder if they feel that they need to have a "youth-friendly" product until they build up a base of younger fans, and then transition into a more envelope-pushing style when their younger fan base ages.
That was the plan.
in my opinion Raw is only lacking one thing. A good old fashioned blood feud for the title. The last time I remember a title feud on raw that was based on hate instead of ME WANT TITLE MATCH was trips vs orton and the pay off for that was not even close to what it should have been. When there is a true blood feud the opponents should not make grand entrances they should run to the ring and start kicking ass.
Miz and bryan have a good one going but the wwe championship needs to be fought over in this manner.
Problem with a good ol' fashioned blood feud is that the ref would put on some rubber gloves and wipe it away before it even got started...
Yeah OhDeefitty, WE DON'T WANT KIDS KNOWNING PEOPLE HAVE BLOOD INSIDE THEM. That could be dangerous.
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