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Ratings and buyrates


SpursRiot2012

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Let me get this started by saying I do in fact care. But why do I care? Why do you care? A lot of you might not, but it can't be denied that a lot do. Why do we care what numbers a company does? Is it just a symptom of being a smart fan? If the shows were always, always good would we care as much about the numbers?

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Most of us only care about the numbers when it serves to either support a point we are making, or tear down someone else's point.

 

e.g.

 

"wwe ws better wn CM PUNK ws making pipebomb promos talking about being buried and roh and colt cabana, more ppl were interested it was trending on twitter and more ppl were watching than now!!11"

 

Ratings and buyrates say, not so much.

 

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Generally, to give context and perspective to our own opinions. For example, "WWE should build everything around the cruisers and stop doing comedy and then it would have another boom period" is a statement that's absolute bollocks. But it might have more credibility if it was backed by some numbers. Ratings and buyrates indicate what actually works, rather than our own preferences. And that's an important difference when people love to throw out statements like "WWE needs to ___________" and "TNA would turn the corner if they ___________" and whatnot.

 

In practise, though, we care about ratings and buyrates because they help backup our pre-existing opinions, like "Look at the ratings, Evil Vince is out of touch with what the audience wants (cruiserweights with no gimmicks)" and "Look at the SummerSlam buyrate, CM Punk is a failure as a top babyface."

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But WWE has been in the 3+ range (and TNA in the 1+) for like...forever. Maybe the audience we have is all there will be. Those people were watching WCW in the 90s are gone. And we are still watching. So, why do the numbers matter?

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As above. Ratings and buyrates are used to strengthen our own opinions something, but it matters very little to our enjoyment. If I cared about ratings and buyrates, I certainly wouldnt be watching TNA as much as I do. Saying that, I'd love to be seeing wrestling doing far better than it is.

 

But WWE has been in the 3+ range (and TNA in the 1+) for like...forever.

Doesnt explain the buyrates though. WWE drew 300,000 or 400,000 buys for PPV's in 2002 when they were drawing 3.0 ratings a week. That 3+ range represents more of a casual viewer these days, because PPV numbers have been dying off in the last 18 months. They want more of their current audience buying the PPVs, not more people watching.

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When was the last thing to go near a 4 other than Rock? Do you think it's POSSIBLE for WWE to do the kind of buys they were doing in 00, 01, 02 etc? I don't care how you build a guy, they just don't have a hope of hitting those highs again because wrestling is niche again and not pop-culture.

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In practise, though, we care about ratings and buyrates because they help backup our pre-existing opinions

 

It's called "backwards rationalisation" and we're all guilty for the most part.

 

I care little about the numbers but to some degree I do. Good numbers make me think I'm watching something good... the ratings are like little marketing decoys, giving us something to value our enjoyment against.

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i dont care about the ratings at all - all it shows me is that when the shows are good, the ratings show that.

 

buyrates, again why should i care? the only people who care are the people running the company.

 

im more intruigued about the way the ratings fluctuate every 15 minutes, and quite drastically.

 

maybe its a british thing, but when i sit down to watch anything, no matter what it is, i will watch it until the end.

 

for example i watch eastenders, if a scene is boring or a storyline sucks, i just put up with it and continue with the show.

 

in the states it seems they would watch 5 minutes, switch channels and then come back for the end and the cliffhanger.

 

all that says to me is american are fickle douchebags who have to love or respect for the shows they watch each week. choose a show and watch the whole bloody thing.

 

so yeah i needed to vent on that. in the UK ratings dont mean that much, i mean awful bbc 3 sitcoms get 6 episodes and maybe renewed for 2-3 years. the same shows in the states would be cancelled after 2 episodes and never seen again. thats the only good thing about US ratings. when its shit, they tell you.

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