WWE Using Unusual New Tactic To Boost Television Ratings
The novel method WWE is employing to raise interest in its shows...
WWE has recently made a habit of going "live" on social media platforms prior to its shows kicking off as a means of raising interest in them.
Fightful Select, WWE has been doing this a few minutes before the shows to "serve as an active reminder that the show was starting."
The method would ensure that a portion of WWE fans who following the promotion (and were on the relevant platforms at the time) would see the live content, theoretically reminding them that Raw or SmackDown was about to kick off. Notifications may also have a similar impact.
There is currently no word on how successful this tactic has been thus far, or if it is set to continue for a set period - but it is in play.
Last Friday's episode of SmackDown drew an overall P2+ preliminary viewership of 2.088 million for its first hour on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.com. The second hour fell slightly to 2.048 million, with the P18-49 ratings sitting at 0.51 and 0.52 for the first and second half of the show respectively. SmackDown was headlined by AJ Styles' qualification to the World Heavyweight Championship tournament finals.