The Ratings Thread - a lot of people watched wrestling on Super Tuesday, sort of

GKJ

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Feb 27, 2002
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Man, wrestling has really fell off the radar in America. I know Smackdown has the excuse of airing on a different channel this week (and a channel that never charts unless it has a marquee sports game), but those AEW numbers are borderline embarrassing.

Rampage had been #1 in cable before baseball playoffs, which running at 10pm is a major success.

Beating WWE in women 18-49 when they’ve had so much trouble drawing them is also huge.

It’s just funny how WWE sets out to prove that AEW is not legitimate competition, and yet every time they do it accomplish the exact opposite. Friday was a 200% win for AEW.
 

Scandale du Jour

JordanStaal#1Fan
Mar 11, 2002
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It’s 2021. Why the hell does anyone care about TV ratings? Go look at YouTube numbers for a better indication.

Well, social media numbers are indeed very important. Shows how popular a brand is... AEW trended OVER Smackdown on Friday night.

Next step for AEW is to move away from the PPV model and get a deal with their partners for streaming rights. Warner have this cute little platform called HBOMax... perhaps... ;)
 

Scandale du Jour

JordanStaal#1Fan
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AEW has billion dollar contracts?

Not yet, but they will be able to get them if they continue to show that their brand is nearly as valuable as WWE in key demos.

As I just mentioned, streaming rights are the next logical step for TK and AEW. If they can sell their library + special live shows to HBO Max, they are going to make a lot of money. NHL has been able to secure a lot of money from ESPN and their brand value is likely much lower than AEW.

Once they establish these revenue streams, AEW will be able to outbid WWE for top free agents... which they might not even not to do because Vince is dead set into building his own steroid freak "stars".
 
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NextBigThing

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Feb 25, 2010
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Unfortunately, advertisers have always looked down upon wrestling fans. Even with good demo numbers they won't spend big on pro wrestling. They think the average wrestling fan is uneducated and unemployed with little to zero disposable income (and honestly they're probably right). AEW gets better demo numbers than the NHL, but advertisers will still spend more on NHL than AEW.
 

Apex Predator

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I use to watch WWE but once AEW came in I slowly stopped watching it. move been out of the WWE loop for probably close to 2 years. Has WWE improved?

I know about Roman Reigns going heel and that’s been a success but besides that anything else been good?
 

Scandale du Jour

JordanStaal#1Fan
Mar 11, 2002
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Unfortunately, advertisers have always looked down upon wrestling fans. Even with good demo numbers they won't spend big on pro wrestling. They think the average wrestling fan is uneducated and unemployed with little to zero disposable income (and honestly they're probably right). AEW gets better demo numbers than the NHL, but advertisers will still spend more on NHL than AEW.

And, yet, the WWE got a HUGE contract from FOX.

Good marketing people look at numbers, not perceptions. Look at the ads running during Smackdown, Rampage and Dynamite. Plenty of mainstream companies. State Farms even sponsors guardrails in AEW... they are a major sponsor of the NFL.

What you say was true in the 90s, but it is not anymore, IMO.
 

GKJ

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WWE specifically yells and screams about YouTube numbers, especially when they look bad. They made Jinder the champion because of YouTube.
 
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TheBeastCoast

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False. Many YouTubers make a lot of money off of YouTube. I do not know about enough how YouTube to know if it applies to brands like WWE and AEW, but I am pretty sure they get pretty good ad revenue off of their millions of views on YT.
Eh YouTube gives out significantly less money then they did even 5 years ago. A lot of creators survive off of community donations(patreons) and paid sponsorships now and cant make a living off YouTubes adsense. I am sure they get some money back from YouTube views but it would be an absolute drop in the bucket compared to a lucrative TV contract.
 

NextBigThing

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And, yet, the WWE got a HUGE contract from FOX.

Good marketing people look at numbers, not perceptions. Look at the ads running during Smackdown, Rampage and Dynamite. Plenty of mainstream companies. State Farms even sponsors guardrails in AEW... they are a major sponsor of the NFL.

What you say was true in the 90s, but it is not anymore, IMO.
Then why did Turner bump AEW for the NHL? AEW draws more viewers and has better demos.
 

NextBigThing

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I use to watch WWE but once AEW came in I slowly stopped watching it. move been out of the WWE loop for probably close to 2 years. Has WWE improved?

I know about Roman Reigns going heel and that’s been a success but besides that anything else been good?
WWE is better now than it's been in a long time. Reigns is killing it as a heel and he has a HUGE matchup with Lesnar this Thursday at Noon ET Live on Peacock in the US and the WWE Network outside of the US. It's an absolute stacked card that every wrestling fan won't want to miss.

Diversity is one of the things WWE is lightyears ahead of AEW right now. Of the 9 matches scheduled for Crown Jewel, 8 have at least one POC participant. Compared to AEW All Out only 3 matches had a POC participant.
 

Khelandros

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If Youtube wasn't a viable solution, helping to grow a product and make money, then why does AEW have two prominent shows on it?
 
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Unholy Diver

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If Youtube wasn't a viable solution, helping to grow a product and make money, then why does AEW have two prominent shows on it?


They don't have any prominent shows on youtube, they put a couple hours of jobber matches a week on there, just like WWE puts crap like main event on their network, no cable or tv channel would air that crap
 

GKJ

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Feb 27, 2002
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WWE is better now than it's been in a long time. Reigns is killing it as a heel and he has a HUGE matchup with Lesnar this Thursday at Noon ET Live on Peacock in the US and the WWE Network outside of the US. It's an absolute stacked card that every wrestling fan won't want to miss.

Diversity is one of the things WWE is lightyears ahead of AEW right now. Of the 9 matches scheduled for Crown Jewel, 8 have at least one POC participant. Compared to AEW All Out only 3 matches had a POC participant.
AEW had 11 *women* of color in just the battle royal alone, including 2 out queer women and one who is transgender. In one match.
 

Sheppy

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WWE is better now than it's been in a long time. Reigns is killing it as a heel and he has a HUGE matchup with Lesnar this Thursday at Noon ET Live on Peacock in the US and the WWE Network outside of the US. It's an absolute stacked card that every wrestling fan won't want to miss.

Diversity is one of the things WWE is lightyears ahead of AEW right now. Of the 9 matches scheduled for Crown Jewel, 8 have at least one POC participant. Compared to AEW All Out only 3 matches had a POC participant.
Jesus Christ.

This is such a shill response, good god. Cringe worthy, actually.
 

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