“TBS was owned by Ted Turner.
When Turner put Channel 17 on Satellite, it was a laughing stock in Television. Seriously, who could possible want to see an Atlanta UHF Station in Los Angeles, or Dallas or New York.
But he had three very unique ingredients that made it a success.
The first being Atlanta Braves Baseball and the second being The Andy Griffith Show, a television staple a generation earlier.
But the third was the most popular of all: Pro-Wrestling, every Saturday and Sunday.
In 1981 his two-hour Saturday at 6:05 wrestling show did a 6.4 Average Rating for the year. His Sunday Show at the same time did a 6.6.
Nothing else in cable came close.
Wrestling was the first star of cable television, not unlike it was during the early days of television itself.”
–From The Death Of WCW
For some it might be hard to grasp just how much pro-wrestling used to be a dominant force on television.
6.1 million is an insane number especially compared to the ratings pro-wrestling achieves today. Keep in mind that this was before the famous Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW which would witness both companies’ monstrous rise and break into the mainstream pop culture mountain.
WWE’s highest peaked show actually took place in 1999 with a RAW Episode in Orlando that was main-evented with a six-man tag match featuring Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Vince McMahon against Shane McMahon, Triple H and the Undertaker.
That’s a lot of star power, which may have helped that episode of RAW earn its 8.1 Rating. Being placed smack dab in a time where everyone seemed to love pro-wrestling also helped.
These past numbers however illustrate the parallel of pro-wrestling’s current television struggle against its modern renaissance of content.
The average rating for WWE during 2017 was 1.7 which seems dismal in comparison to its golden era on cable television. But while the content itself hasn’t always produced the best material, 2017 served a plethora of matches and moments that hardcore fans ate up.
Many blame the shifting habits of television viewers, who seem to be trading in cable cords for streaming.
In Variety Magazine, it was stated:
“In 2017, a total of 22.2 million U.S. adults will have cut the cord on cable, satellite or telco TV service to date — up 33% from 16.7 million in 2016 — the researcher now predicts. That’s significantly higher than eMarketer’s prior estimate of 15.4 million cord-cutters as of the end of this year. Meanwhile, the number of “cord-nevers” (consumers who have never subscribed to pay TV) will rise 5.8% this year, to 34.4 million.
‘Younger audiences continue to switch to either exclusively watching [over-the-top] video or watching them in combination with free-TV options,” said Chris Bendtsen, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer. “Last year, even the Olympics and [the U.S.] presidential election could not prevent younger audiences from abandoning pay TV.’
Overall, 196.3 million U.S. adults will have traditional pay TV (cable, satellite or telco) this year, down 2.4% compared with 2016, eMarketer predicts. By 2021, that will drop to 181.7 million, a decline of nearly 10% from 2016. The number of pay-TV viewers 55 and older will continue to rise over the next four years, while for every other age cohort the subscriber tallies will decline.”
TV is clearly still king, but it’s a fading one.
My generation and those that will follow are intent on stabbing it in the heart, and Piledriving it to hell.
Not necessarily in that order.
It’s not like wrestling companies haven’t taken notice especially the WWE–did you know you can subscribe to their network for $9.99? Did you? Cause they sure will make sure you know–though their relationship with streaming isn’t completely optimal.
For all their intention of making the Network a success they still haven’t figured out how you can bridge opportunities between streaming and television.
For example, it’s great to have a host of past WWE pay-per-views, WCW, and ECW content at my fingertips. However, placing NXT (which dipped its toes into television for the first time last month) and 205 Live somewhere on TV would benefit those shows tremendously on the network., by garnering interest and eyes from viewers that still haven’t jumped into the Network and what it offers.
ROH and Impact Wrestling are easier for me to find through apps on my phone (FITE Network Specifically) as well as a host of other promotions, mostly because my tv providers don’t carry channels that feature their shows, or they’re just buried on some channel I didn’t even know existed.
And since we’re moments away from NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 premiere, I have to question their decision to make this event strictly stream only, at least until the replay is shown on AXS TV. Last year they still did the stream and pay-per-view, which is what I would think you’d want to do when you got Chris Jericho in a match, who is a more recognizable name to the casual crowd.
I get that NJPW wants to get as many subscribers as they can this year, but placing all your poker chips solely on Streaming doesn’t seem like the best move right now.
But who knows?
Maybe the gamble will pay off.
One thing is for sure when it comes to pro-wrestling and television: we’ll never see it on top of the Cable/Satellite Mountain again.
But that world may be sinking anyways.
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