[Gamblor]

Originally Posted by Falkono

If Rock/Taker/SCSA/HBK or any of those guys were champ the ratings would go up big time. The reason for that is because those guys are popular. People want to watch them. They are draws. Fuck even Rock just singing had a 3.8 rating. Now imagine the rating when/if he is champ?

Exactly what kind of ratings are you expecting for the whole show based on one of them being champion? Because we'll more than likely be able to test your prediction with The Rock in February... when he'll also have the backing of Lesnar, Taker, and possibly HHH, as well as the fact it's Wrestlemania season. I'm sure they'll be higher than what Punk is getting now, but if you think you're going to be seeing anything above a 3.2 overall rating, I'd be willing to bet on that.

Its like saying whoever the boxing champ is doesn't effect the popularity of the card. People buy ppvs due to the main event and that is fact. Whether that be boxing, mma,or wrestling.

Here's the thing, TV ratings are a completely different beast from PPV buys. For Pay Per Views, Punk and his match (at least since Night of Champions) are what's mainly responsible for the Pay Per View buys, and it's where he does deserve a bulk of the blame if the numbers aren't good. However that's not the case for TV ratings, because the champion doesn't defend his title on every show, and therefore the fact he's champion holds little relevance as far as TV ratings go.

There's no doubt him being in the main event means he should definitely get more of the blame for a lousy number than say... Wade Barrett, but to think he's the one overwhelmingly responsible for the decline is wrong. The major reasons are 3 hour Raws (despite what some would say, they're just too long for people to stay tuned throughout), lack of intense storylines and lack of interesting characters.

[SrsLii]

Originally Posted by Falkono

Sorry but that's bullshit and you know it. To think Who is champ does not matter is one of the worst defences for Punk ever.

Its like saying whoever the boxing champ is doesn't effect the popularity of the card. People buy ppvs due to the main event and that is fact. Whether that be boxing, mma,or wrestling.

If Rock/Taker/SCSA/HBK or any of those guys were champ the ratings would go up big time. The reason for that is because those guys are popular. People want to watch them. They are draws. Fuck even Rock just singing had a 3.8 rating. Now imagine the rating when/if he is champ?

People need to accept that the current roster including the champ is mostly very under average guys. Being champ means a lot its just right now the champ isn't that interesting.

Rock being champ/in the ME isn't going to stop anyone from fast forwarding the rest of the show to get there. You need to look at the overall picture.

[P1KACHU]

If Punk weren't such an arrogant prick, people wouldn't enjoy making fun of him so much.

[SPCDRI]

3 hour RAW is one hour too long. This is I think the 18th month in a row where hour 3 had fewer viewers than hour 2 and it is clearly the least-watched hour of the program on a consistent basis. 3 hours is just too long. You can promise matches with the hot guys and the champs and do gimmicky stuff like the lie detector thing but the fact is about 500,000 people quit watching from the start of hour 1 and hour 3's "rating boost" is just them trying to get back all the people they lost because the product is too long and is not compelling start to finish.

The show does not maintain viewership or gain throughout the night.

Edit: My guess was that Hour 3 would continue to be the most viewed and highest rated portion of the show but that Hour 2 would be a massacre. But it doesn't seem like that. The show consistently sheds viewers and gets some of the shed viewers back for the close of the program and the overrun but nobody is really watching the meat and potatoes of the final 70 to 80 minutes of the show. It is disastrous. If you had to pick any hour to have the fewest viewers you'd pick hour 2, not hour 3 and overrun.

[hardysno1fan]

I don't think it will be long before the E goes back to 2hrs. They can't be making much more money what with the dire ratings. I just don't see how it is worth the hassle.

The big question is if it went back to 2hrs would they regain the viewers lost or is the damage irreversible?

[murder]

Originally Posted by hardysno1fan

The big question is if it went back to 2hrs would they regain the viewers lost or is the damage irreversible?

No because the show sucks, whether it's one, two or three hours long.

Rock coming back and becoming champion along with HHH/Lesnar/Taker coming back and, get this, better storylines will regain viewers.

Speaking of storylines, how does anyone expect Cena to draw ratings in a storyline as bad as his current one with AJ/Vickie/Ziggler? Even Austin and Rock had a problem to draw ratings in 2001 when Debra was involved.

[sesshomaru]

The ratings in the 3rd hour would spike if Rocky was Champion, but the rest of the show won't spike..maybe just go up a bit.



Even if the Champ's awesome, he can't carry 3 hours. Maybe 2, but definitely not 3


Here's what would boost ratings:
Storylines (at the same time)
Cena/Taker
Lesner/HHH
Rocky/Punk
Orton/Zigglar?
Barett/Jericho?
Meangiful midcard storylines to gain interest for the rest of the show


AKA, they can turn everything around this Wrestlemania if they make 5 great storylines that have interesting progression every week instead of one great storyline and a bunch of thrown-together-1-minute-before-the-promo storylines. That was my problem with last year's WM. Besides Rock/Cena (which wasn't even written that well, they relied far too much on "Dwayne" and bad jokes, Cena wasn't serious until 1 week before the match, and even then it was a taped promo. When he got to the ring he was his Barney the Dinosaur self again) everything else was kinda shit. Taker/HHH was fantastic, but it kinda wrote itself, and they had 3 veterans to help them. The writers don't really deserve credit here. Punk/Jericho was a travesty. It was just boring, with Jericho calling Punk CM Drunk and saying he's the BITW. It's like they couldn't give them a real reason to have conflict so they just wrote out of their asses and hoped the match would make up for it. It didn't. Also, Sheamus/Bryan was terrible. Both the match and storyline. Plus, WWE had no "redemption" storyline for Bryan to bring himself back up after losing in 30 seconds. The fans literately had to force WWE to keep Bryan relevant. WWE was trying to make him the next Jack Swagger. As if they don't have enough jobbers, now they're trying to use former WHCs.

They've done this before. Why can't they write more then 1 storyline at a time? Is Vince nickel-and-diming on the writing team?

[BKsaaki]

baleeted

[Crusade]

Originally Posted by The Sandrone

Here's the thing, TV ratings are a completely different beast from PPV buys. For Pay Per Views, Punk and his match (at least since Night of Champions) are what's mainly responsible for the Pay Per View buys, and it's where he does deserve a bulk of the blame if the numbers aren't good. However that's not the case for TV ratings, because the champion doesn't defend his title on every show, and therefore the fact he's champion holds little relevance as far as TV ratings go.

There's no doubt him being in the main event means he should definitely get more of the blame for a lousy number than say... Wade Barrett, but to think he's the one overwhelmingly responsible for the decline is wrong. The major reasons are 3 hour Raws (despite what some would say, they're just too long for people to stay tuned throughout), lack of intense storylines and lack of interesting characters.

Stop it Sandrone, you are making too much sense for the Punk haters who want to blame Punk for every single little problem WWE has with its products and its ratings.

No matter that there are other parts of the show to worry about which creatively sucks and has no reason for casuals to tune in right now ITS ALL VANILLA MIDGET PUNK'S FAULT.

[hardysno1fan]

Me no like punk. He make number bad. Me want number good.