Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan
I'm posing a question to the fans of AEW and the critics alike. Can AEW be a success if they stay at 1 million on average? Perhaps the true average is a little lower but, I'm talking in the 800k-1.4 range that they usually get.
Bischoff recently said this on his podcast . . .
But it made me think. What is this all about? Who cares if WWE has twice the audience of AEW? If you could earn half the TV rights money that WWE does by being half as popular, you'd still be making enough on the tv rights to be a highly profitable company.
AEW get's around 45 million annually for Dynamite and that could have increased for Rampage and Battle of the Belts. If Turner Networks were willing to pay the 45 million annual after AEW's first few months, what logic is it to assume that they won't pay a considerable increase to maintain and probably even increase programing?
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The issue is that it comes down to what the networks ultimately want. Dave even alluded to it — WWE are going to be able to negotiate with WarnerMedia in the future. If TBS, TNT or HBO Max want wrestling programming, why not just go to the kings? Why settle for a product that is capped? Why even break open the bank to pay them more in a few years? You can see more advertising with The Big Bang Theory.
People make fun of NXT, but given it’s a PG show and doesn’t split the ad revenue with USA, it probably makes NBC Universal more money than AEW does WarnerMedia. The goal for these networks is to make money.
AEW does not have the leverage fans pretend it does. And there is no guarantee that an executive doesn’t have the idea to chance TBS’s imaging again in a couple of years and wants the show where a bunch of white 40 yr old men are saying “shit” over and over again off the network.
Does any of this matter to fans? I think the perception of a wrestling company affects how fans engage with it. Look at TNA over the years. It still stays in business. It’s still on TV. But the shenanigans and the knock-backs have definitely hurt it. AEW’s status as #2 becoming more and more trivial over the years is going to dampen excitement, slow ticket sales, affect who they can and cannot sign, and ultimately nullify the product.
And if you wanted AEW to make wrestling better? Unless you are a fan specifically of their antics, then you’re in tough fucking luck. They swung and they missed are no threat to WWE. So we’re not in a post-Vince world yet. AEW has made it possible for WWE to be even more like WWE, pay talent what they want, fire who they want, etc.
If WWE suddenly becomes good, because they feel the need to create stars, bring back Stone Cold Steve Austin, etc. — it’s because there are stadiums they need to fill and more TV/streaming deals for them to sign. Absolutely none of that pressure comes from AEW producing an obnoxious product that doesn’t even do the things it claims to do.
This paradigm sucks. It is a very dark timeline to be a wrestling fan. Specifically to what Bischoff has said: I see AEW fans brag about growth for the product and compare it to SmackDown. Their one metric for this is the YoY for their ratings. They are completely ignoring the fact that NXT used to be on the same night. The final week-to-week for Dynamite and NXT had 1.46 million people watching wrestling on Wednesday. Somehow I doubt AEW is doing that anytime soon.
So Bischoff is right. The people who say that this product is growing just because a large handicap has been taken off it are either ignorant or actively lying to you. Networks MIGHT decide they are happy with what wrestling is now, as far as cheap original programming for assholes goes. But it’s not invaluable nor is it catching fire. We’re getting colder every year.