WWE Trades Ruthless Aggression For PG | Wrestling Timelines
February 7, 2008 | The Root Of It All
After failing to renew the deal on the cheap, the CW Network makes the decision to drop WWE SmackDown from its airwaves. This is embarrassing, and significantly affects WWE’s bottom line. While nowhere near close to fatal - SmackDown finds a new home on MyNetworkTV in October - it’s an echo of WCW’s demise. But really, it’s a tale as old as time.
SmackDown is among the highest-viewed shows on the station. In June 2008, it draws strongly with teenagers and young adult males - elusive demographics that every television executive dreams of capturing - and yet, it does not matter. This is something of an exaggeration, but to understand this disconnect, think of it like a maths question: what is 3 million multiplied by 0?
In television, an ad rate is the price charged by a network to advertisers for a commercial that airs during a broadcast. The cost increases substantially during the primetime hours in which SmackDown airs because more people are watching. The TV execs know that this is the best chance an advertiser has to publicise their product or service. Hence the premium. The idea is mutually beneficial.
The networks receive very good money from advertisers; advertisers seek to make it back from the people who purchase their goods. This symbiotic relationship is the lifeblood of TV (it is also the reason why, in 2026, the streaming era that did not initially rely on ads has effectively become another iteration of the cable TV model).
It doesn't matter if SmackDown on the CW Network draws, say, 3 million viewers. Ad execs believe that wrestling fans have 0 money. Blue-chip companies hold the opinion that wrestling fans are uneducated - how dumb must they be, if they believe in this fake crap?! - and thus poor. They can’t afford fancy things, so why waste money targeting them?
By June 2008, WWE earns a meagre $1,154,000 from TV rights fees - and this factors in Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. WWE makes more money doing house shows, which is why the calendar is so brutal. Vince knows that there is a safe containing a vast fortune that WWE is yet to crack, and sets about transforming his company in order to open it up.