The Hamilton Ave Journal 06.18.09: Volume 2 – Issue 91

As with stocks, here in the Journal we track the progress of television ratings. If ratings are the barometer by which we judge the product, then over the course of 52 weeks we should be able to see patterns, trends, and anomalies.

For the week ending Wednesday June 17, 2009, here are the current standings of our shows:

RAW
Close (This Week’s Rating): 3.6
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 3.6
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 4.1
52-Week Low: 2.6
All Time High: 8.1
All Time Low: 1.8

SmackDown*
Close (This Week’s Rating): 1.8
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 1.9
Percentage Change: ▼ 5.3%
52-Week High: 2.5
52-Week Low: 1.6
All Time High: 5.8
All Time Low: 1.0

What are the top ten selling items for the WWE? From WWEShopZone.com:

1. Hardys Green Pendant ($10)
2. Macho Madness-Macho Madness – The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection 3-Disc DVD Package ($60.95, on sale $28.99)
3. Triple H Eversoris T-Shirt ($28)
4. John Cena HLR Academy T-Shirt ($25)
5. WWE World Heavyweight Championship Plastic Title Belt ($19.99)
6. WWE Ultimate Rivals Trading Cards ($2)
7. Jeff Hardy PPV #20 Action Figure ($39,99, on sale $22.99)
8. Jeff Hardy 2 Armband Package ($40, on sale $14.99)
9. WWE White Gift Bag ($)
10. Batista Basics T-Shirt ($14.99)

In a VERY rare occurrence, the WWE did not update their list this week. They normally update this daily, so something must be going on in the back rooms of WWEShop.com.

TNA sometimes releases a list of top selling items on ShopTNA.com. According to the site the top selling items were:

1. Beer Money T-Shirt ($19.99)
2. Cross The Line Triple Pack DVD Set ($24.99, on sale $10.88)
3. Jeff Jarrett King of Mountain DVD Set ($29.99)
4. Motor City Machine Guns T-shirt ($19.99)
5. TNA Logo T-Shirt Special ($24.99)
6. Nash “Big Sexy Tour” T-shirt (2008 Version) ($19.99)
7. Main Event Mafia – Black T-shirt ($19.99)
8. Single Pack Of Five Impact Trading Cards ($2.49)

Now Kurt Angle fell off the bottom of the list, but everything else remained the same.

Do you know a wrestling event coming up? Send one in to The Hamilton Ave Journal and we’ll be sure to add it to the list.

From the commentary section last week, TNA’s lack of updating came up. Guest#7950 wonders:

Which is more likely when it comes to TNA’s top items?

A) Pure laziness.
B) People buying them enough that none of the items saw no change.
C) Because they read 411 and they enjoy pissing you off.

While letter C would be incredibly self-gratifying, it is not likely (though the Journal has talked with the TNA CMO directly in the past). Letter B is possible for a short while, but there should still be slight weekly variations. When it comes to Letter A, Brett has a difference thought:

I actually think it’s because they don’t have enough manpower to perform everything that is necessary, and if something is going to be ignored, it’s going to be that list.

The Journal has covered this in the past, but this list can be automatically generated through some simple queries and then loaded once a week. More than that, it is indicative of TNA’s bigger problem of not being able to pay attention to all of the little details. When they updated the list in full 3 weeks ago, they put Christian Cage back in. That is the type of mistake that they should not be making, especially twice in the same year. Yet, because no one seems to bother with the details, these are they type of things that get through.

Brett continued with his thoughts on the WWE, UFC, and PPVs:

WWE obviously only acts as though they don’t see UFC as competition. Vince has always said that they are in competition with any entertainment company and I’d say the more similar a product is to the WWE product, the more likely they are competing with them. I could be wrong but didn’t WWE try to sign away UFC’s Play by Play guy a few years ago? As a matter of fact, I’d say the PG move is primarily based as a way to counter act the UFC. The UFC can take my demo, but kids don’t necessarily want to see something so violent with characters they might perceive as bland. Kids love over the top characters (comic books, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, etc.) and they also like simulated violence where they don’t have to watch the true repercussions of what might happen if you punch a guy in the face.

Yes, the WWE tried to sign away Mike Goldberg in 2005 to be the voice of RAW. They have also flirted with starting their own MMA promotion or buying an existing one, especially because WWE Senior Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon is a big MMA fan. JBL being involved with OVW and their new MMA offshoot may also be a way of the WWE testing the waters.

I’m beginning to think that WWE’s product is so available that it could be hurting their PPV numbers. As my dad used to say, “Why did we buy the PPV? We’re finding out who won the next night anyway” and if you’re a WWE and UFC fan, the storylines and who won the matches are most important, not necessarily how the match was (especially now that certain world title matches aren’t exactly living up to expectations).

In the UFC, I’m almost sure that their product isn’t as readily available (they certainly don’t have a show on Friday and another on Monday), and add on top of that, the fight is what matters in UFC. The fight is the story, they have very simple storylines, but ultimately they aren’t needed… As opposed to UFC, Raw will offer PPV-esque matches weekly that you can see for free and you don’t know who is gonna win. Not sure what my point was, i rambled a bit their.

This is a point the Journal has been making for some time about the over-exposure of the product. By having so much for available for free on TV (7 hours of WWE programming, 2 hours of TNA, 5 hours of Spanish language programming, various local promotions with an hour a week), there is little extra need to see and pay for anything else. The WWE has also seen it in their attendance figures when cities that do well in ratings fail to attract sell out crowds who instead opt to still watch from home. The WWE has made the at-home product all that is necessary, even more than the live experience of the PPVs.

On the subject of PPVs, streaming sites continue to be a hot topic. mr ideaman ponders:

With WWE going after streaming sites what are your thoughts on WWE offering PPVs at a reduced price online? Since there would be no PPV provider to share profits with, they should be able to go pretty cheap right?

Guest#5960 shared his thoughts on this one:

Well, the WWE did try that model when they first introduced the streaming PPVs, and it caused a decrease in actual PPV buys, so the WWE made a decision to make them the same price so that way people would be more inclined to watch it on a big screen TV. There are plenty of streaming websites out there and finding a stream of Extreme Rules was actually easy. They focus on justin.tv because that site is U.S.-based. Other sites like ustream.tv are based outside of the U.S., which means it is more difficult for them to go after them.

Yes, it is a losing battle for the WWE to go after streaming sites because they are all over the world, especially in countries that do not have strong intellectual property laws. That said, even though there may have been a decrease in PPV buys, the profit margin on the streaming is much higher so it would be better for them. More likely, they have an agreement with the PPV providers to have the same price on their site as with the PPV channels so the PPV channels feel it is fair competition and they are not being cannibalized by their content provider.

Even still, the WWE should look to get out of such an agreement. Times have changed so much that there is not much to expect from buyrate drops. Instead, the WWE could capture more of the illegal streaming audience which, as you pointed out, is growing and is not deterred by the WWE’s actions. mogamer represents that part of the audience:

I’m one of the few people who don’t have a pay TV service and I catch most wrestling via streaming. So I would pay $20 – $25 for a PPV. Until you can get an actual HD picture via streaming, I (and most people) wouldn’t pay the same as a TV pay per view.

Exactly; the quality of the online streaming does not match the quality of TV and therefore should not be the same price, but at a discount.

Leaving WWE PPV’s behind, Gangsta wants to go back to international scene:

Last I’ve check, AAA beat WWE and kick them out their timeslot. WWE was push to a later timeslot. AAA got their 3 hours back and AAA is still the most watch wrestling show in Mexico. AAA is the only company that could claim recent defeat on the WWE. THAT’s A FACT!!!!!!!

Which leads me to another question: with AAA recent success US house show tour which outdrew TNA biggest shows, I don’t understand why they can’t get on a bigger network in the states? My guess is that Televisa won’t allow it but if AAA was on Univision, I bet the ratings will outdraw Raw on most weeks.

The Journal is sorry to let you know, Gangsta, but your numbers are way off. RAW’s ratings in recent weeks have actually been toping 14.0, while AAA has dropped from 14.0 level to the 7.5 to 8.0 range. AAA is maintaining well, but when WWE programming comes up later in the day they actually are doing better than AAA on the same station. Meanwhile, CMLL has dropped to the 3.5 range.

(Readers please note that Mexican ratings and US ratings are totally different and do not represent the same number of people.)

You are correct that AAA does hold some recent defeats of the WWE in Mexico, but TNA hold recent defeats of RAW in the UK and in other countries. In Japan the local promotions outperform the WWE and TNA much of the time, but it is still a major battleground for both.

And although the Latino population in the United States is growing by leaps and bounds, Latinos and Hispanics of all races represent about 15% of the population today. That means there is not enough base to support AAA being the size of the US in America, but is very possible for them to be the size of TNA. By 2050 Latino and Hispanic populations are expected to rise to over 30% of the population, so there is a point where AAA could get as big as the WWE.

Despite that, there is a much larger problem for AAA and that is media conglomeration. NBC-Universal, the broadcast partner of the WWE, owns Telemundo, Mun2, Telemundo Internacional, CNBC Latin America, and various other Spanish language cable stations, network broadcast partners, and more. Meanwhile, Viacom (TNA’s media partner) has been working for years to expand their Spanish language assets. Galavision and Univision remain relatively independent amound some other smaller affiliates, but it seems only a matter of time before they come under the control of one of the big four (NBC-Universal, Viacom, ABC-Disney, or NewCorp [aka Fox]). Given that Fox has a working relationship with the WWE as well, AAA would best be involved with ABC-Disney. This could also especially help with ESPN Deportes, but ABC-Disney has long shown an aversion to professional wrestling in any form.

Plenty more was written, so be sure to take a look. And of course, a week would not be complete without a good dose of JP Prag’s own HIDDEN HIGHLIGHTS!!

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