http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/118-daily-updates/27573-tna-and-spike-make-official-announcement-about-remaiining-live-through-end-of-2012
You can't argue with the quality increase thus far. And thus is obviously a big vote of confidence from Spike, so hopefully they continue not fucking it up.
TNA has an audience of about 1.5 million viewers, who I suspect will always remain loyal to the product. How they siphon off viewers from WWE is a challenge that continually evades them, but even if they never grow much beyond that "core" I think they're going to remain viable.
ReplyDeleteI probably wouldn't be watching if they were still taping, even on their current hot streak. The only times I've watched Smackdown over the years is whenever they did a live ep.
ReplyDeleteDamn, the one negative about Borderlands 2 coming out this week... It'll "pre-empt" Impact for me tonight.
ReplyDeleteOh well, Pandora calls.
Yep, I haven't watched Smackdown regularly since the Punk-Hardy feud. Something about it not being live that makes it appear less good, even though most weeks, I'm sure is better than Raw.
ReplyDeleteThis is where TNA is still failing or by proxy, Spike TV. They need to do much better job marketing their show. Believe it or not, there are still tons of folks who would be interested in a good wrestling show that have no idea TNA is even around. I know, i've met quite a few of them.
ReplyDeleteAnd forget about syphoning over WWE fans. Where are those WCW fans that quit in 2001? This show is tailored for them and in fact, is much better right now than anything WCW was doing from pretty much 98-01. Find them.
Sounds pretty difficult to bring someone back to something they gave up 11 years ago.
ReplyDeleteRatings slipped little by little, not all at once. I'm pretty sure a good amount of WCW fans hung around for years. If they were more aware that there's another product that's a wrestling show, not sports entertainment and Sting is there, blah blah blah...can't hurt.
ReplyDeleteCompletely off topic, but as someone who's not a tech guy, what's the different between an LCD tv or a LED tv? Are they the best you can get these days?
ReplyDeleteI'm not too hard to please - I like my Blurays and my high-def gaming. Is an LG LED 42 inch going to make me happy?
Advertising Impact is Spike TV's job. They should by ad time with USA and have commercials during Raw
ReplyDeleteYou should make a documentary where you find this disenchanted WCW fans and find out what they want
ReplyDelete11 years is too long. Someone who was a teenager during when WCW was hot at the end of the 90s is 30 right now. Convincing a 30 year old to watch wrestling again is simply not going to happen. People my age either have been watching for life or get back into it through our kids.
ReplyDeleteHeck even someone who was a kid during the NWO angle is 21+ now.
This generation (our generation) doesn't matter anymore. Maybe a few years ago it would have been a viable approach but this group is too old to be converted (or converted back) to wrestling fans. That's why even though I'm not a huge fan of the product anymore I think WWE is doing the right thing by trying to breed a new generation of 6-12 year old fans because they can have a full lifestyle of fandom with them.
I do agree that they need to do a better job of cross promoting their product though. If you don't watch Spike (and with the UFC gone a lot of potential eyes are off the network) there's no way you'd even know TNA exists.
@The_Bo:disqus @TraitorAlex:disqus
ReplyDeleteAlright, so it was a shitty idea :-)
However, like Alex said, they have to increase viewership somehow and I think it's got to go beyond WWE viewers.
The Rock N' Wrestling Era ended around '89-'90. The Attitude Era started '97-'98. The audience for the former were children and teens (roughly 8-16). The audience for the latter was the same group almost a decade on (16-30), with slightly more wiggle room on the high end. It is possible. It's just not likely because WWE has no intention of recapturing the audience they lost. They're content farming Cena out to every new 8 year old that comes along.
ReplyDeletei have an lg led and love the fucking thing if that helps.. makes impact that much more enjoyable ;)
ReplyDeleteprecisely... when wcw folded and my black box was still working i couldn't get enough of the tna ppvs!
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's the one I've been looking at that one for a while and I love it. It looks amazing, but I don't know much about LED/LCD, etc and wanted to make sure it was as good as it looks to me. I now have a new life mission - acquire LG LED.
ReplyDeleteI actually agreed with you lol!
ReplyDeleteIt's just a lot of ppl have mentioned the thousands of WCW fans who gave up, but no one claims to be one. They're like Big Foot
I'll put it to you this way. I'm basically the ideal fan that WWF/WWE bred. I was a little kid eating my vitamins and saying my prayers with Hulk Hogan. I mostly quit during the Diesel era but I came back as an "edgy" teen/college student for the NWO and attitude era. The drop off was only 4-5 years when I started getting "too old" for wrestling and then when the product changed to get me back. And they're basically done with me now and I understand that. If anything they're still targeting me by trying to convince me to get my kids to watch and giving them John Cena to be their hero just like Hogan was mine (and if I had kids and was on that traditional lifestyle track they'd probably be 100% right but haha I outsmarted you Vince by being a childless loser, SUCK IT).
ReplyDelete4-5 (maybe even 6-7) years isn't the same as 10-12 years and targeting teens and young adults isn't the same as targeting full blown adults. I don't doubt that Vince/Jarrett/Dixie probably could aim at 30 year old men if they all sat down and really tried to do it but I just think the WWE business plan is good business strategy. They're aiming at kids now and they're going to do the same thing WCW did in 96 by eventually turning Cena into an anti-hero and capturing the same "edgy and cool" teens attention the same way they did to me 16 years ago.
I don't have to like it (and I don't) but I don't matter anymore except to be Dad and open up the wallet.
I had a direct comparison. Used to have a 42 inch Sharp Aquos (sp?) LCD television. It was good, but you'll find it's nowhere near as sharp as an LED screen (which I now have).
ReplyDeleteThe colour and sharpness you get with LED is wonderful. Blurays look absolutely knockout. You can see just about everyone's face in the crowd, put it that way.
But standard 720p high definition (what Impact is broadcast in) is still a treat.
Have fun!
On a slight side note, i'd love to know Vince Russo's 'big idea' he has on how to revolutionise wrestling. He said he won't part ways with it unless the price is right, though.
ReplyDeleteI'd be genuinely interested. It's basically an entire new system. And no, i'm guessing not TNA's short-lived 'Top Ten Contenders' system, which robbed far too much air time on a weekly basis.
Contract on a pole in a thundercage.
ReplyDelete"so hopefully they continue not fucking it up"
ReplyDeleteLadies and gentlemen, positivity: smark style.
Mark my words, slow and steady will win the race for them this time. They just keep cranking out a reasonable, well produced wrestling show with good matches and interesting characters where titles are important and outcomes make a difference, and people will come around.
ReplyDeleteGreat news, and the live feel adds a little oomph to the presentation (one of the reason SD can feel so lifeless is because of all the canned shit that goes on). TNA is ROLLING, as Michael Cole would say.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's OK if they're never on the ratings tier of WWE. If they can be a solid secondary company with a set fanbase of 1.5 million watching every week, that's an accomplishment in itself. Their success as a company does not hinge on whether they can challenge Vince; they can both co-exist and succeed at the scales at which they are produced at.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with all the optimism. And then, as Cornette would say, I saw this turd in the punch bowl (POSSIBLE ACES AND EIGHTS SPOILERS): http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/255690
ReplyDeleteThoughts?
Off-topic I know but: I'm watching Gremlins 2, and it suddenly comes up 'WRITTEN BY CHARLIE HAAS'
ReplyDeleteImpact live thread?
ReplyDeleteI'll just go ahead and use this as the live thread.
ReplyDeleteSHAQTASTIC
No live Impact thread? The TNA disrespect continues... :-)
ReplyDeleteit's what people thought when the angle first started. honestly could be that TNA leaked this as a red herring.
ReplyDeleteagreed. as long as they can turn a profit and give wrestlers another place to earn steady income it's a victory.
ReplyDeleteHe's full of shit. If he had an idea like that he would have done it by now. When business is good everybody gains so I don't buy that right price BS
ReplyDeleteI guess I count as a former fan of WCW over WWF (I watched both though) and this past month or so of TNA is exactly what I want.
ReplyDeleteSo that's where all his charisma went, he put it all into that script.
ReplyDeleteim stil wcw 4 life
ReplyDelete