Entertainment

Ratings Talk is Back!

Rob always brings logical insight to any topic, regardless of how often it’s brought up in the IWC. Sit back and give this a read, they don’t call Rob a genius for the t-shirts.

Published

3 years ago

December 6, 2021

Rob Bonnette

OK, I know, I know, I’ve been saying it over and over for a very long time, ratings talk is dumb. So why on Earth am I bringing it back? Because now that some, ahem, developments have transpired I think I have a better case to make. I don’t expect any of you who are obsessed with the subject to let it go, but you should at least hear me out here. Now that the worm has turned a little, maybe the things that I and others have been saying all along will sink in a bit.

What am I talking about? In short, AEW’s live audience numbers have taken a bit of a dip over the past couple of months, and this week even Dave Meltzer couldn’t say anything other than it was disappointing. They haven’t gone over a million viewers for Dynamite in almost two months and Rampage slipped under five hundred thousand last week. If this kind of thing was happening on the other side of the street then there would be some hot takes flying for sure. So, are we going to get some of those now? You know what I mean, things like:

AEW in the mud!
Worst ratings since (pick whatever date works for you)!
At what point does TNT start making demands on how the show is booked?
The ratings are obviously going down because the shows are unwatchable now!!
(Insert name here) is not a draw!
That title match in two weeks is hotshot booking to pop a rating!

Sound familiar? We’re gonna see these soon, right? No? Why is that? Are you trying to tell me that wrestling media doesn’t call this stuff the same on both sides of the street? Seriously though, here are some other familiar things for you to chew on:

Dynamite is the highest rated non-NBA show on TNT, and it’s not close
Even on a disappointing night, it finished third in the ratings on cable
Rampage is the next highest rated and watched show on TNT after Dynamite
Fewer people watch TV now than before

Those are the kind of things a lot of us would say every week after people on the internet waxed doom and gloom about Monday Night Raw, of course. And we were summarily dismissed as E drones or whatever. But now that the falling numbers have struck AEW, the same rationalizations have begun. But here’s the truth in both cases:

Everyone is doing fine. RAW, Smackdown, NXT, Dynamite, and Rampage are all leading their respective channels for the day they air. They all are among the top shows for their respective channels, even the much maligned (for their live audience numbers) NXT and Rampage. There is literally nothing to see here folks as none of these shows are in any danger of getting cancelled. No one is actually in the mud, guys. The networks all know that Nielsen is suspect at best when it comes to measuring audience numbers, and they act accordingly. There is no reason to rush to Shobuzz Daily every day at 4:30 unless you are just a numbers nerd like me but even then save the pontificating, ok? The numbers exist and that’s about it. They serve no purpose for us as fans beyond goofy talking points.

But doesn’t it mean SOMETHING?

Well no, it doesn’t. There are things you can derive from looking at the patterns over time but trust me when I tell you that your entire narrative can be blown up in a matter of two weeks. So don’t bother. As I and many others have said before, a good rating does not mean a good show and vice versa. There was a lot of trying to figure it out in the replies to Meltzer’s ‘disappointment’ tweet, and while there were reasonable takes there was also a lot of nonsense. Which has been par for the course with RAW since like…….2002 at least.

So why do we keep doing this thing?

Well, it was a talking point that Eric Bischoff used to show how he was kicking the WWF’s butt over those 83 weeks. But once that ended it became less and less relevant over time. And then once TV viewership made the shift to streaming and DVRs it’s relevance was all but dead. And it should have ended entirely once WWE signed two $1 billion TV deals in the face of nonstop ‘what about teh ratingz?’ talk on the internet. That should have totally killed the conversation, but your friends Meltzer and company kept it going even though they (should) know better. And they did it for traffic.

‘Fed bad’, ‘Fed down’, and ‘Fed in the mud’ has been selling Observer subscriptions for almost 40 years now while it has spawned a whole cottage industry of podcasts, YouTube channels, and websites over the last decade. There is little to no truth to what any of these people are telling you when it comes to ratings, because if there was then they would be firing off the same takes about AEW that they’ve been using about WWE right now. But they aren’t and that should be a tell. If you ever needed proof that it was nonsense the last two months should be it.

Here’s a dose of reality for you: Nielsen numbers are not accurate. Several networks have already announced that they aren’t relying on them, Nielsen itself has lost it’s accreditation as an information gathering service, and the company itself has begun a shift to overall impressions from traditional audience measuring via Nielsen boxes. What you read every day at 4:30 or on some wrestling website is by all accounts an inaccurate at best and dishonest at worst representation of how many people are watching these shows. And the recent reporting of Fast Nationals, aka Overnights has only made it worse because those are a hastily gathered version of an already inaccurate report.

Here’s some more reality for you. Regardless of what Nielsen says the live numbers are both WWE and AEW are going to get a nice bump in TV rights fees when they negotiate their new TV deals. Other sports with smaller audiences just got more, and the NFL and NBA continue to get price hikes even as their numbers aren’t what they once were. And your favorite internet loudmouths will continue to spout the same factually challenged gibberish that they’ve been saying for decades now. None of it will matter unless you guys keep giving them money and traffic every month.

I’m going to make a bold statement here: there is not a single thing that ratings talk has done to help the fan experience and in fact it’s only made things worse. But it has made money for a lot of bad faith actors out there, many of whom want us to treat them as if they are reporting on Watergate or the Civil Rights Movement while they spout off takes based a change up or down of 100,000 people watching a wrestling show on TV. At this point anyone writing serious essays or going on rants about ratings is not someone you should take seriously. Just go do what you should have always been doing. Watch the shows, enjoy the shows, go to the shows, talk reasonably about them with your friends, etc. Anything else is just dumb.

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Related Topics:AEW Dave Meltzer TNT USA Network WWE

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About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

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Entertainment

Mitchell’s Hyrule Puro-Resu News Report! (4/10/25)

It’s gonna be May!

Published

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HPW prepares for the storm ahead…

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But who is their third partner? They didn’t name them, so who could it be? Volga? Kevin Gibdo? Or even Wizzro? Will keeping it an unknown be the key to winning?

Igos du Ikana speaks.

From inside his shadowy throne room, The Ruler of Ruin looks at the HPW Death Mountain Championship on a pedestal. “The HPW Death Mountain Championship. A championship created not just to commemorate one of Hyrule’s greatest landmarks, but also to commemorate one of Hyrule’s greatest wrestling promotions. Death Mountain Wrestling was a vital part of wrestling history, where legends would pave the way for a new generation, and inspire many more. Not unlike Termina Championship Wrestling.”

Igos walks past the pedestal to look to a trophy case. Igos looks to his copy of the classic TCW Championship, and even of the High Noon Championship. There are also poster sized pictures of Igos’ greatest moments, such as the first time he won the TCW title, and the last time he held it while TCW was still active. Igos continues by saying, “I say this not because you don’t know. Of course you know this. I say this so that you might understand. I say this because I need you to understand. You have great aspirations, and strong ambition, but I don’t think you understand what you’re attempting to achieve.

“You stand at the foot of a mountain, it’s shadow upon you. That mountain’s name is legacy. You want to climb the mountain. You want to reach the top and plant your own flag at the summit. You want everyone to see you, to look up to you, to acknowledge you. But this climb is more challenging than you know. This climb is more challenging than you can handle. These belts may only be ten pounds, but they weigh so much more once you put them on. You are not ready for the climb. You are not ready to carry that weight. You are not ready to push yourself, step after step, inch after inch, as the mountain only grows steeper and steeper. And you never will be.

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HPW Deep Dive: Wisdom VS Power.

The Princess of Hyrule visits Hero of Hyrule, Link, now that he’s home from the hospital. He still needs bed rest, given everything Ganon did to him. He has bandages around his head, and his sister, Aryll, checks his stitches. 13 stitches all along the hairline. They’re holding well, no bleeding. Zelda sits with Link and holds his hand. She apologizes for what happened, but Link shakes his head. Aryll agrees, Zelda’s not to blame, Ganon and his Dark Forces are. They ruined her moment, they beat Link down, so they they have to be stopped. Ganon’s coming after the title anyway, so Zelda can get payback at the same time.

Ganon says, “Like I give a damn.” The Gerudo Ace lounges in his manor, The Dark Forces all around him. That now includes Shabonne & Tali, sporting new ensembles to reflect joining up. The Faces of Evil have their HPW World Trios Championships while Ganon has the Triforce Tournament trophy in hand. Ganon then mockingly says, “YoU dEsErVe It~! YoU dEsErVe It~!” Audio from the Triforce Anniversary event is interspliced here, as well as flashes of Zelda being emotional as she has the title belt put on.

“Isn’t it strange that Zelda takes the fall at HyruleMania, but I’m the one relegated to the tournament? And she clearly has that pointy eared little simp wrapped around her finger, or else he wouldn’t have even agreed to the match. But hey, what do I know? I only beat Link one-on-one in his first defense, then beat Zelda one-on-one in my first defense. I’m the Triple Crown Champion, I beat legends of TCW, and I’m this year’s Triforce Tournament winner. No one is more deserving of that title, of whatever title there is, than me! Isn’t that right?” The group all say, “Yeah!”

Ganon says, “The Dark Forces will be golden!” The group again shouts, “Yeah!” Ganon says, “The Dark Forces RUNS HPW!” The group again shouts, “YEAH!!” The Dark Forces all raise a glass to drink it up, while Link rests his head on Zelda’s shoulder and she rests her head on his. The Princess of Hyrule may reign, but will she fail to trump the Gerudo Ace? The countdown is on until May 1st, when Wrestling is Life!