Nothing seems to happen. No doubt all 3 hours will be under 3 million again this week. I don't think they can fix things and with the number of viewers lost since January last year, it could take years to convince those fans to come back, there just seems to be no effort at all in the show, it's just the same old wrestling format. Every wrestler is the same. They're all angry at each other for no good reason, babyfaces stand tall, heels run away, no one sells any moves.
If Vince McMahon really has been away from TV and wont return till Summerslam, I hope him watching the show away from the arena will maybe get through to him that a lot of stuff is tale, especially the commentary and he can see how it comes across on TV. I really think that is why nothing changes, I think they're all too close to it, they're inside that bubble and can't see anything past it but if he's watching at home or in a hotel maybe he'll see how things come across on TV as a viewer. Maybe if he's even more gutsy he will use the remote control and change channels every now and then and see what is on TV at 8pm,9pm,10pm,11pm at night and realise it's not family gameshows and puppets. It's adult TV and maybe realise how out of place the WWE's product is.
And I pulled this from elsewhere but I agree with this person and I think when the next contract negotiations are due this will be the end of prime time wrestling on American TV. TNA could still be doing prime time and I really hope they are but if they aren't then I think that could be the end, I think at the very least they will force WWE to change their timeslot to a much earlier timeslot of say 4pm or 5pm and by the time those contracts are up for renewal, Raw will have been on prime time for 25 years and it's had a good run. I think it's gonna end, I don't think the ratings can justify the $160 million a year they are now getting and that is set to increase again next year. I don't think they will pull the plug on Raw but I think the money they offer will be dropped significantly and I think they will ask the show be put on at a much earlier time. There's no reason for that show to be on from 8pm - 11.15pm. It's the most child friendly wrestling show there is.
And of course people make excuses, it's President's Day, it's Marshmallow Day, it's Independance Day, it's Christmas, It's the Olympics, It's wash your hair day, It's New Year's Day, every excuse in the book as to why ratings are down on Mondays and what I think will happen with the Olympics now, is every week all 3 hours will be below 3 million viewers and then when the NFL starts, which is very soon, i think those same people that stopped watching for the Olympics (which i do think is a valid reason since it's once every 4 years) I think they wont miss WWE at all and will no doubt watch the NFL and that's on 14 weeks, nearly 3 months, I think by that point the WWE will struggle to get those viewers back because those viewers will realise they have missed 4 months of Raw and they're no worse off. They've missed nothing.
I just don't see things getting any better and that Forbes article is exactly what I've said for months. The WWE is aiming their show at the hardcore wrestling fans only. Wrestling is a niche thing anyway, the hardcore fans are even more niche and what happens is the more wrestling there is on the show, the more regular the guys look, the less characters and stories there are, the more you push away casual fans because casual fans don't care about fixed matches, they're not gonna sit through it and that's what the WWE has done, they're catering to the hardcore fans and like Vince Russo and Shawn Michaels said, you have them! You got them already! Hardcore fans will never stop watching. You've already got their money and they will gladly keep throwing money at you so why not focus your efforts on the millions and millions of people that watch other shows on TV and try and give them something they might be interested in and before you know it you have new fans that are watching and that audience builds and builds.