A big problem with TNA shows in 2014 is they have been taping them so far in advance that fans on the internet can read results of the shows up to two months in advance. They were taping things in September that would air in late November. It's really not the kind of thing that appeals to a viewer because it feels flat when you watch it on television. Let's not pretend like every fan is reading spoilers, but we are also living at a time where nearly everybody has a cell phone in their hand or an ipad or laptop with internet access, so if they do a search about Impact Wrestling or a taped WWE show like Smackdown then they can find spoilers pretty easy. If you know what's happening on a show it can be a turn off to a viewer. Think about what worked for WCW Monday Nitro back in 1995. They put Nitro on live every Monday night to compete with Raw. The reason it worked is because it was a live television show every single week. We couldn't read about it on the internet (not like the internet was that big back then), so that helped too. They also had a lot more star power and money than TNA does. When TNA has tried live shows it hasn't been successful. They lost money producing them and overpaying talent. Now they're at a point where they are merely a television show with no more live events and we have no idea how long they are going to last. Losing the touring business is a big loss for them. It's tough to grow without being able to show your product to the fans across America.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
