10 Ways WWE Must Revert To Old Habits To Pop A Rating
The Numbers Game.
Records tumbled last week, as the May 29th edition of Monday Night Raw only managed a 1.75 rating. The least-watched episode of the year, and second lowest in the show's history, Dave Meltzer later reported that only one ever edition of the much-maligned WCW Nitro drew a smaller number.
The problems are not exclusive to Monday Night Raw. A recent 205 Live episode had less viewers than WCW Halloween Havoc 1998, a pay-per-view sold on a rematch between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior eight years on from their original encounter.
WWE will argue that the landscape of television in 2017 has shifted so seismically that the viewing figures dipping are no longer a reflection of a product in decline, and they may have a point. Spoilt for choice on content as well as on demand viewing options, the old vision of millions sitting in front of a television at the exact same time to watch a show is becoming passé.
However, what does still matter for the company are the lucrative television rights that usually come with every contract renewal. A 2014 rights fee re-negotiation saw WWE stay with NBC Universal for around $160-200 million per year, but those were paid out based on figures that grossly differ from today. WWE's press release at the time noted how Raw would attract 'an audience close to five million per week'. This has since halved. Thus, a sharp turn in the opposite direction would be ideal ahead of their next renewal in 2019.
10. Stone Cold, Red Hot
Stone Cold Steve Austin, by almost every metric, was the most commercially successful WWE Superstar ever. Adjustments for inflation elevate his figures over Hulk Hogan's somewhat unfairly, but in terms of ticket sales, buyrates and merchandise, there were few that even came close to drawing every last penny from the pockets of wrestling fans quite like 'The Rattlesnake' in his pomp.
He was also the spine of WWE's late-90s renaissance, driving forth a babyface persona that extolled the ethos of what would become known as the Attitude Era and propel the company to heights unseen.
This was never more evident than in June 1999, when Austin dethroned The Undertaker to win his third WWE Title at the climax of a typically chaotic edition of Monday Night Raw. The quarter that housed the match drew a 9.5 rating, equating to approximately 10.7 million viewers as the most-watched match in the history of the show. It was the highest Monday Night cable rating for pro wrestling ever, slightly above the much-vaunted 'This Is Your Life' segment between Mick Foley and The Rock later that year.
A relatively rare commodity in the modern era, a semi-regular return to WWE outside of his sound-proof podcast set would see countless viewers cast more than a glance back over the product they'd long abandoned.