Rumor going around the net is that both FOX and USA Network have grown upset with WWE's sluggish ratings in recent times and are losing patience with WWE.
Vince's response is rumored to be him not really caring despite others in the company becoming very worried.
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Originally Posted by WrestleTalk
To put it bluntly, the ratings for episodes of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown have taken a pretty hard hit during the Coronavirus pandemic. For example, last week’s Raw drew the lowest rating in the show’s history.
When WWE announced that Big Show vs. Randy Orton would be taking place on Raw last night and not at Extreme Rules, it was reported that this was in an attempt to boost viewership for the show.
As such, many people speculated that Vince McMahon would be incredibly unhappy with the falling TV ratings. However, a recent report indicates that, interestingly, that’s not the case.
WrestlingNews.co is reporting that Vince McMahon is not worried by the falling WWE TV ratings, and reportedly neither are the USA Network and FOX. Here’s what the site said on the matter:
“While some people in the people worry that the numbers could continue to drop, Vince McMahon has shrugged off the low numbers. WrestlingNews.co was told that McMahon feels that the numbers will get back over 2 million viewers after SummerSlam because he believes that fans will be back at shows by September.
“A WWE source said, “Vince is doing what he can by putting on PPV matches on Raw and SmackDown but USA and Fox are happy and everyone knows things will get better when we can get some people back at arenas. This is what he thinks right now and he’s not sweating these numbers.”
WWE initially reportedly had plans to have fans back into shows THIS MONTH. However, those plans have obviously been postponed. It will be interesting to see if/how Vince McMahon’s response to the ratings changes if fans are not back into shows by September.
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Originally Posted by WrestleTalk
However, a new report from Ringside News is suggesting that perhaps the USA Network and FOX aren’t overly pleased with the figures WWE is bringing in right now for their weekly shows.
The site is reporting that both the USA Network and FOX have ‘lost patience’ with the company, likely over the falling ratings. They also note that people within WWE are worried about declining ratings.
“While speaking to a source recently it was disclosed to us that WWE is feeling the pressure regarding their sinking ratings. “Sh*t runs downhill,” which makes for a very stressful work environment as some executives are taking frustrations out on anyone that they can under them. There is a lot of eggshell walking right now
“Ringside News has learned “the story that FOX and USA Network are okay with waiting for people to come back into arenas is bullsh*t.” It was previously thought that bringing fans back to arenas will encourage more viewers at home. We were told that they have lost patience with those low numbers.”
Here’s what Ringside News founder Steve Carrier had on say on Twitter about the report:
“We were told that stories about Fox and USA being patient with WWE are bullshit. They are not only really concerned about these ratings, but they are also worried about how the NFL will do more damage”.
It is important to note that Ringside News does say that neither FOX or the USA Network are reportedly considering dropping SmackDown or Raw respecitvely from their networks. They are just losing patience with the company.
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Also starting in mid-August, FS1 won't be airing WWE programming on Tuesdays due to MLB. The network's statement to Post Wrestling did not mention if WWE programming would resume after this year's MLB Playoffs ended.