This is the 7th week of my reports and this week’s ratings have been the strongest set of ratings so far. The 3 major shows all improved their ratings from last week. I was most surprised by TNA’s Impact. Impact upped its rating this week by 2/10ths of a point. While that may not seem like much, it’s huge considering the fact that it was up against Game 3 of the NBA Finals ( 11.4, 17 share ). Impact had some great wrestling on the show with the World X Cup preview matches. Memphis fans love and appreciate good wrestling and it showed this week with Impact holding their good rating.
Smackdown was the 2nd most watched show in primetime last Friday night. Smackdown is always good for some good wrestling matches which explains why it draws so well in Memphis. Being on free TV doesn’t hurt either. Smackdown is a very strong show for CW30. It pulls better numbers than CW30 and ABC-24’s newscasts (30 and 24 are sister stations). I can’t imagine the sales folks at CW30 are too happy that SD will be moving stations this fall.
RAW’s numbers showed the most improvement from last week. I guess Memphis realized that Vince was really giving away money and decided to watch. RAW was up in the final rating almost a point and a half. Even the national rating was up this week. It will be interesting to see next week when Vince gives away another million bucks to see if the ratings keep going up.
One thing I’m going to keep my eye on over the summer months is to see if these strong numbers will keep up over the next 2.5 months. Traditionally, the summer months are a slow time for wrestling shows both live and on TV alike but I think this summer might be different. With gas prices at an all time high, people are going to be staying home, watching TV more which in turn will possibly keep these good TV ratings up. They will also probably try to find things to do, entertainment wise that are close to home which may just help wrestling shows this summer. In my opinion, wrestling shows are a great entertainment value and for the most part are very family-friendly. In these times where money is getting tight for everyone, live wrestling shows are a great entertainment bargain.
Finally, Sanford and Son and The Andy Griffith Show that now runs on Saturday night in the old Memphis Wrestling time slot continued its strong run as the “replacements” for MW. The shows drew a 3.7 [61,956 viewers] and 4.1 [68,654 viewers] respectively. Both shows drew a 6 share. Honestly, I’m amazed at how 2 shows that are over 30 years old pull numbers that well on a Saturday night.
If you have any questions or comments just email me at: rpg187@gmail.com.
Note: The ratings for RAW is listed as 2 separate hours. I will round off, to the highest number, the averages of both hours for the final rating.
Thanks and enjoy!!!
TNA Impact (Thursday) 6-12-08
Final Rating: 2.4 [40,294 viewers] 4 share
Quarter hours:
1st hour: 2.2 [39,936 viewers], 2.4 [40,294 viewers], 2.3 [38,615 viewers], 2.6 [43,651 viewers]
2nd hour: 2.4 [40,294 viewers], 2.8 [47,009 viewers], 2.4 [40,294 viewers], 2.1 [35,257 viewers]
WWE Friday Night Smackdown 6-13-08
Final Rating: 5.4 [90,6601 viewers] 9 share
Quarter hours:
1st hour: 5.0 [83945 viewers], 5.3 [88,982 viewers], 6.4 [107,450 viewers], 5.3 [88,982 viewers]
2nd hour: 5.5 [92,340 viewers], 4.7 [78,908 viewers], 5.5 [92,340 viewers], 5.6 [94,018 viewers]
TNA Impact Replay 6-14-08
Final Rating: 1.3 [21,826 viewers] 2 share
Quarter hours:
1st hour: 0.9 [15,110 viewers], 1.2 [20,147 viewers], 2.1 [35,248 viewers], 1.6 [26,855 viewers]
2nd hour: 1.4[16,785 viewers], 1.3 [16,785 viewers], 0.9 [15,106 viewers], 0.8 [13,428 viewers]
WWE A.M. 6-15-08
Final Rating: 0.6 [10,071 viewers] 2 share
Quarter hours: 0.6 [10,071 viewers], 0.9 [15,106 viewers], 0.6 [10,071 viewers], 0.3 [5035 viewers]
WWE Raw 6-16-08
Final Rating: 6.0 [100,708 viewers] 9 share
1st hour: 5.6 [93,994 viewers] 8 share
Quarter hours: 4.7 [78,888 viewers], 5.4 [90,638 viewers], 5.7 [95,672 viewers], 6.1 [102,386 viewers]
2nd hour: 6.4 [107,421 viewers] 9 share
Quarter hours: 6.0 [100,708 viewers], 6.6 [110,778 viewers], 6.3 [105,743 viewers], 6.9 [115,814 viewers]
Overrun: 5.1 [85,469 viewers]
----Ron Guidry works for a Memphis TV station and provides the rating anaylsis every week. He was formerly known as “The Penguin” was the old Kick Ass Wrestling promotion.
