Kev:

All of your points are true, but....what if Smackdown had Raw's timeslot? What would the ratings be then?

Kevin, out of curiosity, what are the ratings for Superstars? Do you think SD and Superstars will ever move to a major network? In this area, if you don't have satellite, you're not getting WGN.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I think Superstars is usually in the 0.8 to 1.0 range.

The only thing that really surprises me is that I would have thought a spike in RAW ratings would come with the return of DX. The people that watch RAW and not Smackdown are missing out bigtime, though. I can't even remember the last truly bad episode of Smackdown.

You can also factor in lack of TV advertisements for Smackdown compared to RAW. USA Network puts teasers for Monday Night Raw during commercial breaks during its other shows and spots when the show is still going on. It seems like Smackdown gets 1 or 2 commercial spots per week compared to the almost ten per day we get for RAW. Also MyNetworkTV doesn't really offer much of anything, unless you love hours of COPS re-runs. And lot more people watch RAW just to see how bad can it get this week (me included) knowing the potential that it has to be great.

It's hard to compare. What would really give us the full story is if they did 2 months of 'Smackdown' on Monday nights on the USA network and see how ratings changed. Alas it's all hypothetical. I think achieving an average of 1.8 on MyNetworkTV on Friday nights is very impressive.

I think the fact that PPV buys are going down year-to-year is just as important. Wrestlemania drew almost 1 million which shows fans are still willing to fork out when they want to. But if the other shows are having problems breaking 200,000 then obviously fans aren't too enamoured with the product. Given that Raw gets twice the ratings Smackdown does, it surely shoulders much of the blame for falling to convince viewers to buy PPVs.

Excellent analysis! One small critique would be that 10 years is long enough to establish a TV show, so I don't think being *older* assists RAW much. The more fair notation is the fact that Smackdown! went from an established timeslot on Thursday night to a new night on Friday's a few years ago. I think that might have been your point in the first place.

I would like to know how great the ratings disparity is here in Canada where both programs are aired on The Score. In that respect, the playing field is level. The U.K has a similar arrangement, does it not? Sky Sports or something?

It's a shame Kevin, because Smackdown is far and beyond the best show right now. I never watch Smackdown because I am usually busy on Friday Nights and I don't get MyNetwork TV where I go to College. I usually watch the full episode on YouTube a couple days later.

Kev, I believe thos would be different if mynetworktv was more available. Over half the country cannot get it (as per nielson) unless they special order it from Dish Network (1.99 per month). I have heard that DirectTV was going to make it available, but it still leaves a vast audience potential unreached. MyNetwork TV is not available in the entire state, except Louisville in Kentucky for example.

Kevin,

Do you think Vince will use this as an excuse to tear down Smackdown and make it as bad as Raw?

Spot on comparison between USA/Raw and MYnet/Smackdown.
I noticed NBC is showing a re-airing of Wrestlemania...and I know this is a stretch but, would NBC consider bringing SD to primetime on Friday's?...There a 4th place network that only shows reruns on Fri/Sat anyway and already own Raw/Ecw on its sister stations...i know a big stretch but it did cross my mind.

how does ECW and TNA compare ratings wise?

RESPONSE FROM KE: They are both in the 1.1 to 1.3 range.

I have a question maybe you can answer. I work the late shift and I never see any wrestling show as it airs on TV. I TIVO everything. Does the fact that I'm recording RAW or SmackDown count toward the ratings even though my television is off while they are being aired?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't know the answer to that.

I have been watching raw religiously for at least 10 years, but as good as Smackdown is I rarely watch it because it is on Friday at 8. It is a terrible timeslot because I am usually busy at that time. When it was on Thursday, I would always watch it. So as bad as Raw is, it does have Randy Horton...I mean Orton, who is my favorite wrestler. Jericho regurally appears on Raw. So I am getting all of my favorites on Raw. Once the schoolyear starts I am sure I will watch Smackdown more, but the stigma of it being the B is hard for me to drop.

I agree SDis the better wrestling show but to pull in better raitings they need to go back to there old station or go to USA where they will get better audiance......

compare these news about the mexican ratings from wrestenewz.com:
"WWE is quite hot in Mexico at the moment as both RAW and SmackDown are among the top 20 television shows in the country. RAW was the fourth highest rated show on Televisa Ch. 5 in May whereas Smackdown was the fourth highest rated show of the month on Ch. 7. For the month of April RAW averaged a 13.1 rating whereas SmackDown did a 13.2. Considering the population of Mexico is 109 million, a 13 rating would equal approximately 8 million viewers."

Kudos to whomever said to move the show to NBC.

I am hoping that maybe the showing of Wrestlemania is a feeler to see if people will watch wrestling on NBC.

Smackdown on NBC would get at least a 2.8 ever week.

Kevin,
I think I remember some talk about Mynetwork TV possibly ceasing to exist in the near future...I thought I heard that they only put superstars on WGN to get on another station so they can easily make Smackdown move to WGN if that did happen. Do you know anything about that? I hope it moves to Thursdays, but if not, I will continue to Hulu it and rate it so they know what I think of those episodes.

The problem with Smackdown's ratings is almost entirely the fault of its alleged network.

There is no other (and will be no other) original programming on MyNetworkTV, leaving Smackdown left to support a largely rerun lineup.

I fear the ratings issues could become worse if/when affiliates start defecting from MyNet. WWE has to be looking for a better option, if there is one.

In India where I live, both are telecast on Ten Sport on consecutive nights (Thursday and Friday.... we actually get to see Smackdown before you guys in US:)). The adverts during Smackdown are much more than during Raw. Also in India, you find a lot of Hardy merchandize (Punk shirts are also visible these days) rather than DX and Legacy.
Smackdown seems more directed towards the teens (which is why it gets such rave reviews on the net) while Raw is more into the family.

If SD! went back to the CW or any other station that is available to all viewers I would think their ratings would go backup, maybe not a lot but it would help. I mean in Lexington, KY you can only get the show if you have a the whole Nine-Hundred and Ninety-Nine channels, or if you have Digital TV's (They use our local ABC affiliates digital weather sub-channel). A lot of us still don't have either, just the regular sets and basic cable. If you may remember when the switch first happened a lot of people in Lexington protested outside the station because the station was a "Low Broadcast" channel and could only reach a few blocks out. They may have technically put it back on air in Lexington but only it still wasn't as great of a solution

I moved to Richmond, KY last week to go to college and down here the channel isn't even broadcast here. I usually have to watch the show a week late on hulu.com or jump on to a streaming site and watch it live over the internet. Going to My Network Tv was a bad move for the show.

@Andre - I think I read somewhere before that TIVOed or DVRed shows don't count toward the ratings that Kevin is reporting, but they can track which shows are recorded and generate a second "rating" for the most recorded shows. The problem there is that most folks fast forward the commercials when they TIVO a show, so advertisers don't care as much about that figure. That is also why we are starting to see a lot more product placement advertising in shows, to combat those who skip the traditional commercials.

In terms of the Raw versus SD rating issue, a sad fact of TV is that quality content does not ususally equal ratings.

To etucker's comments:

That's really interesting! I wondered about those ratings and how someone DVRing (is that a word?) a show affects them.

I ALWAYS record (DVR) the wrestling shows I watch, for a number of reasons:

1. I hate watching commercials - I always fast forward through them. Which leads me to my next point...

2. I have to fast forward through the commercials because I just wouldn't have enough time each week to watch every wrestling show I'm interested in all the way through. I watch RAW, ROH, ECW, Superstars, TNA and then Smackdown! on Friday. That's a LOT of television! If I didn't fast forward through the commercials, that's 9 hours a week! The DVR helps bring that down to a manageable time.

3. Even though I try to watch every match, occasionally I'll fast forward past a match I've seen on WWE programming over and over again. The WWE tends to book those matches more - how many times do we have to see the same match week after week? The Hart Dynasty vs Cryme Tyme? Again?!? Just for the record, I can't remember the last time I fast-forwarded through a TNA match...

4. The other thing I fast-forward through on WWE programming are the constant promos and "last week on RAW" ad nauseum!! I watched the damn show last week!!! Why take SOOOOOO much time to re-cap, when you could show a good match or have a wrestler promo or do a backstage vignette - in other words, "entertain", rather than make me hit the fast forward button.

5. Also, if I love the match I just saw, or want to rewatch a certain amazing spot, I can rewind and watch it again.

Kevin, what were the average ratings for SD when it was on CW?

RESPONSE FROM KE: On average, it was in the high 2's.

Thank you Eck and thank you etucker.

...but the stigma of it being the B is hard for me to drop.

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I suspect that a lot of fans feel that way. No matter how bad the A Show's product may be , a segment of the audience will forever see it as more important than Smackdown as long as it has the Raw name slapped on it. After all, I suppose that Monday Night Football is Monday Night Football, no matter how bad the game may be on any given week.

No one mentioned the non-HD on mynet/WGN. I love wrestling in HD. I hate all the commercials (about 1/3 of programming). DVR is a godsend. The draft is good but here are 2 ideas: not pigeonhole performers (fresh product/better booking) to give a more accurate rating and split the tag straps.

I happened across this today on the blog of one of the Producer's of the TNT show Leverage http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/. It explains more on how DVR viewing figures into the rating calculations:

@kenny: I watch the show anywhere between 1 day and 1 week later on a Comcast DVR in California. Does making sure I watch it within 24 hours help out in some way?

Weirdly, yes, the way DVR numbers are counted, it does matter when you watch us. But DVR numbers still aren't monetized properly, so don't worry too much. Just enjoy the show. HEre. here's commenter harx1, all credit due, to explain it better:

"Regarding ratings information... this is exciting as I actually have information that is useful, as I'm a tv research monkey (for a small cable network that is not TNT - just had to get that out there).

When you watch a show on DVR within the same day that it originally airs, it counts in the Live + Same Day, which is the number that is generally used in press releases when a show's good numbers are being pimped in the trades or mainstream press. Sales groups will also use it. Live+7 data will give you more bang for your buck, as that includes viewers who watched the Live viewing (i.e. no DVR), the Live + Same Day viewing and up to seven days following. However, it takes around 17 days for that data to become available, so it's hard to use for press stories. Digital streaming (legally anyway) is taken into account, but to a much, much lesser degree, as many, many fewer folks get their television viewing from that means. Of course, as someone mentioned, if you're not a Nielsen household, it doesn't really matter when you watch. "

RESPONSE FROM KE: Thanks for sending that along.

ok here in australia, we have Raw on wednesdays, ECW on thursdays and Smackdown on fridays (which means we ALSO see smackdown before the US due to time differences). The timeslot of each show is the same as they are all on fox 8, at 1:30 PM, and a rerun at 11pm on the same night of the show (so that's 1:30 and 11pm on wednesdays for raw, ditto for ECW on thursdays and ditto for smackdown on fridays). Personally I prefer smackdown, and always have, and I have to agree that raw is getting stale. they have kept the whole Randy Orton and Legacy thing going on far too long. they need to get their collective fingers out of their backsides and get some new stars in to the title contention, as currently there are only HH, cena and Orton in the title picture. with batista they have 4. Wow. how exciting. onn smackdown you potentially have Edge (injured admittedly), Jericho, Morrison, Punk, both Hardys ( I wouldn't be surprised to see an MH v Punk rivalry appear), Taker and quite possibly finlay or knox in the near future dependent on the situation with the IC. it maeks a HUGE world of difference. Perhaps some research should be done into the ratings of the shows where they have matching/similar timeslots on major networks.

after doing a quick search, the ratings for week 47 of the year with regards for Smackdown, Raw ECW and TNA in particular, it is as follows:
30 WWE SMACKDOWN! FOX8 33,000
54 WWE RAW FOX8 28,000
84 WWE VINTAGE COLLECTION FOX8 24,000
TNA and ECW not rated in the top 100, both having less than 22000 viewers.