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http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/entertainment/8657984.htm

Fri, May. 14, 2004 

Ratings for 'Raw' are caught in sleeper hold

If the sounds of shockwaves are going through the air, you aren't
feeling the aftereffects of an earthquake. This might be the
consternation of the rating for this week's "Monday Night Raw" on
Spike TV.

Let's consider this: when you want to build a television rating, you
usually frontload your show with top-of-the-line content. In a sitcom,
you may bring in big-name guest stars. In a drama, you have a
cliffhanger of a storyline.

In pro wrestling, the idea is to do a lot of angles which the audience
may have an idea in advance are going to happen. Build in at least one
or two top-flight matches you may ordinarily save for a big arena show
or a pay-per-view.

This Monday night's rating on "Raw" was a 3.4. That means about four
and a half million viewers, mostly male, were watching.

If that sounds like a lot for a cable wrestling show, it would have
been 10 years ago. Today, the figure is about half of what the
audience was on an average week for World Wrestling Entertainment five
years ago when wrestling numbers reached an all-time peak.

Vince McMahon's people felt they had a shot at topping a 4 rating with
the lineup they had: a long-hyped battle between Chris Jericho and
Christian, a lot of interview activity (including, sadly, racial
slurs) by Ric Flair and at least three solid angles to advance
storylines or hype upcoming feuds.

End result: a rating off 15 percent from the previous week, and lots
of head-scratching as to where the audience is drifting.

Just from this corner, here are three theories, at least two of which
are probably close to accurate:

• Whereas Monday night wrestling still has its core following, which
will be there as long as a show is on the tube, most wrestling fans
have seen and heard every shock value storyline in the last five
years. You can't keep raising the bar as often as WWE has attempted
and not create complacency in your audience.

• WWE is simply not regenerating that 10-14 age bracket of young males
which are in the typical period when wrestling fans are hooked.
Extreme sports, skateboarding, inline hockey and traditional spring
sports are all competing for the attention of the adolescents.

• Wrestling ratings peaked when you had two competitive organizations
dueling it out for the viewers' attention on Monday nights. That day
is over and will never return. Fans had much more intense interest
when they had comparative choices or could run the VCR on a competing
show.

No one in WWE headquarters should do any serious handwringing, but
rejoice in the audience which is there. The '90s are already being
regarded as the latest golden era of wrestling and corporate
consolidations, along with viewer disinterest, are not going to return
those audiences to the levels of that decade.


--- Internet Rex 2.29