Dixie Carter speaks on WWE vs TNA ratings war

[chessarmy]

TNA president Dixie Carter recently spoke to TNAWrestling.com, here are the highlights:

On WWE & TNA’s ratings: “We want everyone’s ratings to go up. In order to succeed, we don’t think we have to take ratings away from anyone else. As a wrestling industry, we all have to grow the fan-base worldwide. We can’t just say we’re going to beat Raw (in the ratings). Right now, that’s unrealistic. We had to start with the more obtainable goal to beat the ratings of our competitor’s third-rated show, ECW – and we’ve done that. I have heard people say, ‘It’s not a big deal to beat their lowest rated show,’ but I disagree. It’s a huge success for TNA, which five years ago had just 300,000 viewers in a Friday afternoon timeslot on Fox Sports. So now we’re setting our sights on their second-rated show, Smackdown – and that gap has closed significantly over the past six months.â€

Impact’s timeslot: “Thursday nights are tough. Besides being the most competitive night on TV for networks, we are always up against the biggest sporting events, including high-profile playoffs games. The recent NBA Playoffs had record ratings success, yet TNA held its own. As Spike officials have said, and I agree, ‘God Bless the TNA fans.’ Nothing is set in stone, but no move is being planned right now. Our goal has always been to be competitive and go head-to-head against one of our competitor’s programs. So we hope that might happen sometime in the future.â€

On the current state of the wrestling industry: “The audience of 2009 is significantly different from the audience during the height of the WWF-WCW run. And we have to continue to change accordingly. Today’s fans are smarter, more involved. They don’t want their intelligence insulted, and we have been guilty of that at times in the past. Can we please everyone all the time? No, that’s not realistic. But you have to strive to please them much more than not.â€

On TNA’s progress: “Until we are the biggest wrestling company in the world, we won’t be satisfied. […] We have not been infused with hundreds of millions of dollars, nor had a parent company that is a network. We have fought hard for every bit of success we have attained. We’ve done it fan by fan, success by success. And that, to me, is what makes TNA special, because it truly is a company of the fans; they’ve been the ones who have allowed us to grow. […] I think we have accomplished more in the last six- to 12-months than we have in the last several years. I look at our ratings over the last year, and they are up about 20 percent.â€

On AJ Styles: “Simply PHENOMENAL. He has taken the in-ring product to another level and is really starting to embrace his own stardom, which is a big part of being a star. I am so proud when I hear the ovation he gets around the world when he enters the arena; it usually is the loudest of the night. He has helped build TNA. AJ is the first and only TNA Gland Slam winner, and his time is just beginning.â€

Good interview, I love how she put over AJ Styles in the end there, hopefully that might point to a future world title run for AJ sometime soon.

Let the bashing begin...

 

[The Rated R CMStar]

Samoa Joe was exactly in AJ Styles's position last year, and we all know how that ended, so I really just ignore any praise AJ gets by TNA peers.

As for the ratings shit, give me a break, they have Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, they have some of the biggest names in wrestling...and they are aspiring to beat a show headlined by Tommy Dreamer? Back when ECW was loaded at least it wasn't as shameful to lose the ratings war. But if they don't start beating Goldust, William Regal and The Bellas in ratings, say what you want, they are going anywhere.

Dixie can say all she wants, but she should be competing with Smackdown by now. The fact that she only sold 2.000 tickets in the Palace for Slammiversary is laughable.

 

[Airfixx]

Ratings "WAR".... LOL

 

[Next Big Thing]

As for the ratings shit, give me a break, they have Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, they have some of the biggest names in wrestling...

You list a bunch of big names, but I have to ask this question. When have any of those guys EVER proven to be good individual draws? Angle never carried the company in WWE. Sting was the top guy in WCW in the early 90's, at a time when they were being beat out by the WWF that was putting on a horrible product. Nash is known to be one of the worst drawing champions in the WWE's history.

and they are aspiring to beat a show headlined by Tommy Dreamer?

Actually it's a show headlined by the WWE name. If ECW were an indipendent company with the roster is has and wasn't associated with WWE, it would probably get a quarter of the ratings it gets. So it's not Kurt Angle vs. Tommy Dreamer. It's Kurt Angle vs. a WWE product.

Dixie can say all she wants, but she should be competing with Smackdown by now.

Why do you say that? I see people say things like this all the time, but they don't actually have a legit reason as to why they should be competing with Smackdown by now. You could ask just about any wrestling promoter and they would tell you that they would be more than happy to be in the spot that TNA is in after just 7 years.

 

[MikeRaw]

I must've missed the part where this was a war?

Why do you say that? I see people say things like this all the time, but they don't actually have a legit reason as to why they should be competing with Smackdown by now. You could ask just about any wrestling promoter and they would tell you that they would be more than happy to be in the spot that TNA is in after just 7 years

If TNA is gonna be any competition, they should be competing with SD. I agree with people who say that. WCW wa competing with Monday Night Raw, WWE's best show, after like 5-6 years, and by 10 years, it had higher ratings than Raw. TNA can hardly compete with ECW, and it's 7 years in.

 

[Next Big Thing]

If TNA is gonna be any competition, they should be competing with SD. I agree with people who say that.

It's unrealistic to say that a company that had to start from the ground up should be competing with the WWE's second best show after only 7 years. The WWE has been around for over 50 years. TNA started out as a weekly ppv show that had guys like Ken Shamrock as their biggest name. What they have done in 7 years is damn impressive, and people should realize that before making ridiculous statements about how they should be doing better.

WCW wa competing with Monday Night Raw, WWE's best show, after like 5-6 years, and by 10 years, it had higher ratings than Raw. TNA can hardly compete with ECW, and it's 7 years in.

It's completely unfair to compare TNA and WCW. I'm assuming that you are going by when Ted Turner bought the company from Jim Crocket in 1988 as that would be the only way your numbers make sense. He bought a company that was established and had a history with NWA. In those early days he had guys like Ric Flair, Terry Funk and Ricky Steamboat. WCW didn't start from scratch and in 7 years start competing with the WWF. You also left out the biggest factor as to why WCW was able to compete with the WWF and eventually beat them. The fact that they had pretty much an endless stream of money to use. They were able to sign the biggest draw in wrestling history to lead their company. So to try and compare TNA to WCW is silly.

 

[Kaedon]

When TNA can beat ECW consistently, not just here and there, I'll belive TNA has "beaten" the WWE.

 

[This Guy]

You know I'm not disagreeing with what she said, but there is one major flaw in her thinking. If you recall during the hight of the monday night wars the ratings were the only thing that anyone (in paticular Russo & Bischoff) cared about. The difference was during that time wresting was more popular then it ever has or has been since so those rating turned into actual revenue when they got people to buy there PPV's.

Unfortunatly TNA has Russo and his frame of thinking that ratings are the most important thing. They can be thankful for all the new fans they gain every week all they want, but if none of them care enough about the product to pay money for the PPV's then it doesn't mean squat. There ratings may be slowly growing but there PPV buy rates continue to remain the same.

Now by all means am I saying the WWE is nessisarly any better in this reguards, McMahon also tends to live and die by the ratings as well, but there buy rates are so much larger and seem to actually be on a slow climb that finding away to maintain and fix the ratings seems to be the only issue they have as it relates to viewership.

Remember TNA makes no money for Impact (not including advertising if thats even part of there tv deal, or merchandise sales) No tickets are sold and no one pays to watch it on tv. They need to worry about revenue, and that means PPV buy rates and ticket sales of house shows & pay per views outside of the Impact Zone.

 

[The Rated R CMStar]

You list a bunch of big names, but I have to ask this question. When have any of those guys EVER proven to be good individual draws? Angle never carried the company in WWE. Sting was the top guy in WCW in the early 90's, at a time when they were being beat out by the WWF that was putting on a horrible product. Nash is known to be one of the worst drawing champions in the WWE's history.

You are talking about being or not being draws in the biggest company of them all. Granted, none of them were the biggest draws during their time (altough Nash being part of nWo and Kurt Angle being a big part of the Attitude Era might create a new whole argument), but TNA is not WWE. That's like saying a midcard guy from WWE won't be a draw in, let's say ROH.

Kurt Angle and likes are big fishes in small ponds. More than so, they are the reason people watch TNA, and they were a big part of why people watched WWE, so it's to be expected that he creates an impact enough that a company with him can battle with a company like ECW.

Actually it's a show headlined by the WWE name. If ECW were an indipendent company with the roster is has and wasn't associated with WWE, it would probably get a quarter of the ratings it gets. So it's not Kurt Angle vs. Tommy Dreamer. It's Kurt Angle vs. a WWE product.

While it's a WWE product, when it's the last time WWE actually got behind ECW in a real effort to push it? That's like saying FCW is the top indy promotion just because it has the name of WWE behind it. Last time I checked, Sci Fi network treats ECW like trash, and it isn't really different by WWE. TNA SHOULD be beating ECW in ratings week in and week out.

Besides, you are saying that people watch something just for the sake of it being WWE. I believe people watch the show for the people on it, and when you compare the people in TNA to the people in ECW, well, it all sums itself...

Why do you say that? I see people say things like this all the time, but they don't actually have a legit reason as to why they should be competing with Smackdown by now. You could ask just about any wrestling promoter and they would tell you that they would be more than happy to be in the spot that TNA is in after just 7 years.

1) TNA is in a bigger network than Smackdown, to which far more people have access.

2) The star power in both shows is practically equal.




I think it all comes to the fact that you seem to believe that people will watch something just for it being WWE, totally overlooking the people on it. You're basically saying people want to see Yoshi Tatsu over Sting just because Yoshi Tatsu is wrestling in a "WWE ring", and a find that total bogus.


As for the whole "TNA has only seven years" deal and so it's OK for it to not make jump. TNA has some of the biggest names in history, them being draws is another argument, but when it's all said and done they will be in the biggest names of wrestling list, and you're telling me than just because TNA hasn't been 10 more years around it's OK for them to lose a ratings war against a glorified developmental territory? I see where you are coming with "it's WWE!!!", but it's just too much.

 

[seancarletonzero]

Hey Dixie! for someone who's supposedly good at marketing you sure avoid it!
How about you hire a competent booker and fire a couple of incompetent writers, whoever wrote the Daniels, Joe, AJ angle should be promoted ( I bet that person got fired in 2006 a.k.a. the year the wrestling in TNA died) and all TNA camera crew should go back to school because that shit is minor league.

 

[1chiban]

Wait a minute. WWE vs TNA "ratings war". If getting absolutely hammered every week is a war I don't want in.

The only show they get close to is ECW and WWE are blatant in its portrayal of that as the C show. No war here, folks.

 

[Quintastic One]

Did any of you actually READ the article? lol.

On WWE & TNA’s ratings: “We want everyone’s ratings to go up. In order to succeed, we don’t think we have to take ratings away from anyone else. As a wrestling industry, we all have to grow the fan-base worldwide. We can’t just say we’re going to beat Raw (in the ratings). Right now, that’s unrealistic. We had to start with the more obtainable goal to beat the ratings of our competitor’s third-rated show, ECW – and we’ve done that. I have heard people say, ‘It’s not a big deal to beat their lowest rated show,’ but I disagree. It’s a huge success for TNA, which five years ago had just 300,000 viewers in a Friday afternoon timeslot on Fox Sports. So now we’re setting our sights on their second-rated show, Smackdown – and that gap has closed significantly over the past six months.”

How about reading the bolded part right there? TNA is not setting its sights on beating ECW, it already has. Dixie says specifically in this interview their next goal IS to match ratings and beat Smackdown on a weekly basis. Is it gonna happen? I'm not debating that. But it seems the main bitching going on in this thread is people complaining about TNA compared to ECW when the ratings shows that they already have surpassed ECW.

 

[Kaedon]

It hasnt "beaten" them until it does it week after week. "Hey we beat the Yankeess but they are still in first place" so you SPORADICALLY beating them means next to nothing.

 

[seancarletonzero]

I don't care if TNA pulls a 15, they still are a disgrace to professional wrestling!

 

[King Of Kings]

On the current state of wrestling i dont think wrestling fans are really smarter i think alot more kiddys are tuning in and there changing things according to that. I was 10 years old when i started watching wrestling i loved the attitude era with boobs stone cold drinking beer blood and all the awesome stuff. Now all these kids are growing up with there parents so uptight about what they watch. Please i watched it i turned out ok.