Why Vince McMahon Thinks WWE's Ratings Are Declining
Here's what the Chairman had to say on yesterday's earnings call.
Yesterday's Q1 2020 financials showed that WWE Raw ratings are still declining at a faster rate than cable as a whole, losing 16% of the audience compared to the top 25 shows' 5% average. SmackDown, however, is up, posting a 16% increase following the move to FOX, though this is considerably lower than other shows on a network that saw viewership increase by 36% across their channels.
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon shared his thoughts on the viewership during the accompanying quarterly investors call, pointing to Brock Lesnar's absence as a reason for the slump.
"We no longer have Brock Lesnar, but we have a new champion and a lot of new performers coming in," he said. "That's the reason. How you use those performers in this story or that story. With new talent, it's going to take a little while. I'm convinced the Raw ratings will bounce back considerably."
Vince also said that "SmackDown has virtually been no change," and Raw "has suffered, but not necessarily because of the environment. It's suffered because we bring in a lot of new talent and it takes a while to get new talent over."
Interesting stuff, particularly as Lesnar has worked more dates than usual in 2020. WWE is clearly banking on the likes of Drew McIntyre to get over as ratings draws - so let's see how they do going forward.