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How can anyone claim that TNA did not pull off an incredible feat this past Monday?
First of all, the highest rating TNA has EVER gotten was 1.3. They did that about a year ago, then they did it again the night that it was first announced that Hogan was joining the company. Last weeks' IMPACT drew a 0.9. So a 1.5 only a week later is almost a million extra viewers. Bottom line? TNA has NEVER gotten a 1.5 before.
Anyways, let's look at it deeper. RAW got a 3.6, the exact same rating from the week before, so Bret Hart had no positive effect on the ratings. While TNA was able to not only bring their regular audience with them, they were able to grow it on a Night that belongs to WWE. That is a victory, no matter how you slice it.
A lot of people complained that there were too many questions left unanswered by TNA's Monday episode. Um, hello????? That is how you get people to tune in the following week, for answers. I am so sick of living in this "give me my fix now" short attention span era of the internet. If TNA wrapped up everything on one show, why would anyone tune in again? A movie with a planned sequel leaves cliffhangers so you'll watch the sequel. Same thing here. My personal opinion of the "mystery man switching limos" is that TNA at least tried to tease that it was Shane McMahon. Go back and watch closely and you'll see that whoever it was, was wearing jeans and gym shoes. That is not what Bischoff was wearing when he came onto the show. We'll see if they address this man again in follow up episodes.
There were some bad things on TNA, I will not lie. However, I also cannot remember the last time I was so excited watching a show just because of the feeling of "what is going to happen next?" RAW pumped out the same formulaic episode from what people have told me. They relied on a concussed 52 year old Bret Hart to lure in viewers? The "WWE Universe" has no freaking idea who he is. Have we forgotten that two seperate "WWE Eras" have taken place in the 12 years since he's been gone? The Attitude Era and The Ruthless Agression Era have all come and gone. Now WWE is in a PG Era, catering to a kiddie audience that has never laid eyes on Bret Hart. What did they expect?
You talk about all of the old guys on TNA? What about DX vs Jerishow getting more time to wrestle than Kingston/Orton? DX is in their 40's and Jerishow are WCW castoffs that have been buried by Michaels and Hunter for the last 10 years. I'd rather watch TNA than 4 guys who have never drawn money in the business, despite one of them breeeding with the Boss' Daughter.
Hogan and Angle put over AJ Styles like a Million Bucks on Monday. They used a lot of familiar faces and teases of the nWo reunion to try to lure back a long gone WCW audience. The Orlando Crowd kicked the living hell out of the WWE crowd as far as excitement. About the only return that did not get a pop of any kind was Orlando Jordan's. Flair got a huge pop just for exiting a limo on the TV screen. Hogan got the best reaction of the night. Hardy got a huge reaction. Give the show time to blend the old with the new, it was a freaking reboot for Christ's Sake! It wasn't all going to happen in 1 show.
The biggest criticism I had of the show was the constant commercial breaks. I thought about that after the show and I can even forgive that, for 2 reasons.
1) All of those names need to be paid somehow, so why not cram as much advertising into the show as possible?
2) I think that once you eliminate those commercials, you have a 2 hour show, which they intend to replay in their regular 2 hour time slot on Thursday. I think the condensing of the show with Commercials was deliberate.
Finally, you can analyze the numbers below. There is nothing but good news in those numbers from an advertising and marketing standpoint for TNA. They increased male viewers in all key demographics, which allows them to command more money from sponsors. The show peaked at 2.9 Million viewers, which is 1 million more than they ever had for any previous show. Bottom line? On March 26th, 2001, the night of the final Nitro, there were a combined 11 million wrestling fans watching that night. The WWE Monopoly managed to lose 7 million viewers in 9 years, dwindling Monday viewership to about 4 million if they were lucky. This past Monday Night, there were 7.8 million people watching wrestling again. There is NO WAY to say that is a bad thing. No way!
On March 26th 2001, the combined rating between WCW and WWF was 7.7. This past Monday 1-4-2010, the combined rating between TNA and WWE was 5.1. Let's take that as a positive sign for hope that competition will lead to another wrestling boom.
SPIKE TV’S “TNA iMPACT” DELIVERS ITS HIGHEST RATINGS EVER FOR HULK HOGAN’S DEBUT IN SPECIAL LIVE EPISODE
2.2 Million Tune-In For Live Three-Hour Telecast
New York, NY, January 5, 2010 – Hulk Hogan’s first appearance on Spike TV’s special three-hour live “TNA iMPACT” on Monday, January 4 (8:00-11:05pm) drew 2.2 million viewers. This marks the most-watched "TNA iMPACT" in the history of the franchise, totaling 222 episodes dating back to October, 2005. The previous high was 1.97 million viewers reached last April
The event was broadcast from the TNA iMPACT! Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fl. Airing head-to-head with WWE on USA Network, “TNA iMPACT” peaked at 2.9 million viewers from 9:00-9:15pm ET/PT.
Overall, the telecast drew a 1.5 household rating, a 1.8 in Men 18-34, and a 1.6 in Men 18-49. For the time period, “TNA iMPACT” was up a whopping +338% in M18-34, +241% in M18-49, and +84% in average audience versus a year ago.
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