Today, we'll take a look at the ratings, which I've done for over 2 years now in my column. In college, I've done a lot of studies with statistics, in areas like Chemistry, Psychology, and Economics, so I like to look at numbers and analyze them. For the 2 years, I feel it's safe to say that the ratings are indeed a good indicator of change in wrestling. Take WCW for instance. Their ratings were dropping in large numbers, as was their attendance was dropping as well, which is the same situation in the WWF. Also with the ratings, they can indicate how profitable a federation is, or at least move with it. The WWF isn't as profitable when they scored higher ratings, and I'm not focusing on just advertising there. WCW ran into high debts as their ratings were free-falling, which showed in the general and overall interest of their product. Therefore, ratings are very important to the companies because they can give you a good sense on how strong your product truly is overall. What other statistic can measure that?
On a correction in yesterday's PDC, I forgot to mention the Shane McMahon vs. Kurt Angle match. D'oh! Oh well, it's just Shane doing one big spot during the match, so I can see how I could forget it. Shane seems to be wearing himself out by overdoing the "big spot of the night" for each of his recent matches.
Let's discuss ratings and more, so on to the PDC!
For the first hour, RAW just started off poorly in the ratings, like it has been for a while now. The WWF did a 3.1 in the opening segment, which was Kane vs. Christian, I believe. Yikes, that's like a peak number of WCW before they bottomed out last year. It then shot up a full point for the Vince McMahon interview segment at 4.1, remained constant for the Hardys match, and then went a little higher for the 9:45-10:00 segments at 4.4.
The second hour flipped around from 4.4 and 4.5, with the WWF pretty much getting a steady group of viewers. That's a good thing, and it COULD indicate that they might not drop any further in the ratings. I think the problem for the overall rating is that the first hour no longer gives a fan an incentive to watch the whole program. It appears that fans have lost the excitement to start watching at 9:00, and then take a chance, later, by flipping around and finding RAW. Who knows? But what is known is that the 3.1 rating for the first 15 minutes of RAW is very low for a promotion who knows they can get above that. What's next? Will we be in the 2's for the first 15 minutes? What then?
Our favorite shows *sarcasm* Superstars and Livewire dipped down in the ratings, although you can't rule any statistical significance of the numbers with the 0.1 drops. By the way, I'll agree with another columnist (I forget which one I read) in that Livewire just isn't as "fun" to watch without Shane's wife and Michael Cole hosting. I guess Johnathan Coachman doesn't provide that extra excitement that helped Livewire get a higher number than Superstars on a consistant basis. Mtv Heat improved on their ratings, but it's very hard to even discuss the Mtv ratings because their viewing audience for the whole channel changes by the second.
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If this were something of an audio show, I'd shout "HEADLINES" just like John Stewart does on the Daily Show. This past year at school, I got HOOKED on that show, and I must say that it's the best job for John Stewart, ever. Of course, it's not just Stewart, for he has an awesome cast of correspondants to make the Daily Show very entertaining. I'm getting off the subject, so it's time for DAILY APPLES!
-You know, I figured it would only be a matter of time before Steve Austin would get a change of music. His Disturbed theme is something a HEEL shouldn't have, because Disturbed is pretty red hot right now. Just from word of mouth and reading some of the critic's reviews, Disturbed is getting well received during their concerts so far this Spring or early Summer. I'm pretty much thinking that Disturbed is a popular group among the younger viewing audience, ages 13 to 24, which means you can't boo a guy who has music from your favorite group, now can you? Speaking of Disturbed, I'd like to see someone come out to their remake of "Shout". That's one of the best cover songs I've heard in a while.
-Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin for King of the Ring's Main Event?!?!?!?! That does sound a bit weird, although it could come from a magic Foley contract. Anyway, I don't know if this will be the main event because of 2 things: 1) With two faces, they should at least win the title against the one heel, right? 2) Benoit is still considered a heavy favorite to win the King of the Ring. With that being said, I'm sticking to my guns and suggesting that Steve Austin will either be the Stalker or be behind it all, and we'll see Austin vs. the Undertaker at King of the Ring for the World Title. (NOTE: I HAVE NOT READ ANY SMACKDOWN SPOILERS!!!!)
-Good old Eddie Guerrero is now in some rehab for his addiction to pain killers. Now you could blast him for this little problem, but just take a look at Uncle Eddie. The man gets injured all of the time, and he wrestles through a lot of injuries as well. It was practically bound to happen, and with the pressure of always being able to compete for the WWF, Eddie got hooked on some good pain relieving medicine. It's not like it was cocaine or any other illegal drugs, which Grandmaster Sex-ay and Road Dogg were kicked out for.
-This one will be short and it's sort of a Shout: Why is Perry Saturn complaining to wear a thong and bra in the WWF, even though he was very willing to wear a dress in WCW a few years ago?!?
-Since Jesse Ventura was on RAW, I figured I could mention this. If you listen to a lot of talk radio, which I somewhat do, you'll know that a lot of people are crediting The Body for the recent stir-up in the Senate over congressmen switching parties. Lately, Ventura has been pushing for Minnesota to eliminate the party system to now base a candidate on their own personal merits, which is just awesome and makes a ton of sense. But anyway, I just wanted to point this out, because Ventura's big election win in Minnesota as part of the independent or Reform party was big, and could only get bigger if Senator John McCain decides to go independent, away from the Republican party, for the Presidential election in 2004.
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@That's it for today's column. I HOPE to be back tomorrow, but you never know because Thursdays are always slow. However, I don't have any pressure from school right now, so I may whip something up. Just chill till the next episode.
Oh yeah!!! For those who are asking.... I'll probably be looking through Phat Pharm applications for new writers sometime soon. I've just been busted with time lately, so sorry for getting behind. I plan on whipping up a new edition of BAD TITO someday, as I feel the need to slaughter some Monkeys or Baboones (not the animals), if you know what I mean.
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Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.