I have wanted to write this article for a long time in response to all the talk about TNA “iMPACT!” going to two hours. I have thought for a while that for TNA to succeed they need two hours of television per week. I no longer believe that at all.After watching “Countdown to UFC 66”, I am now a firm believer that one hour is all you need. I don’t want people to tell me that the two shows are different and that you can’t compare the two.
In 60 minutes, UFC sold me on their biggest fight of the year (Tito Ortiz VS. Chuck Lidell) while I spent the hour before trying to figure out what was happening on “iMPACT!” - and I am not any more interested in seeing Final Resolution as a result.
I realized after watching these two programs what the purpose of television is for - as it relates to Mixed Martial Arts and Pro Wrestling companies. Television is still the strongest medium to expose your product. No matter what anyone says about the internet, more people watch television today than ever before. Therefore, for any MMA or Pro Wrestling company to succeed, they need to use a television property as a vehicle to sell their product and to create other revenue streams (pay-per-view, merchandise, live events).
I am sick of hearing smarks talk about ratings as if they are the 'be all and end all'. This is the lowdown about television ratings: They mean NOTHING unless money is being made off the commercials. Higher ratings are good because that means you can sell commercial time for more money. However, none of the major companies including TNA, UFC or WWE make money off commercials.
Ratings don’t mean anything if you cannot entice your viewing audience to spend money on your pay-per-view or live event shows.
UFC is, by far, the best at getting their audience to spend money on pay-per-view. They often have 25% of the television audience of “Raw” and outdraw WWE 7-1 in pay-per-view buys. UFC understands the game; television is a means to an end. I bet you anything that the “Countdown to UFC 66” show will draw a lower rating than any “Raw” or “SmackDown!” did this entire year. I will also bet that this PPV will draw over one million buys, a number WWE can only dream of.
TNA and WWE don’t get it. This past week’s edition of “iMPACT!” had a super rushed segment where Samoa Joe was being presented with a “Mr. TNA” award and then watched Kurt Angle give his girlfriend an ankle lock. The segment was strong but was way too rushed to mean anything. If that segment was at least ten minutes long, the audience would have possibly cared more, or maybe found out what the name of the girl was that Kurt was hurting.WWE can barely get 5% of their domestic television audience to buy pay-per-view. Why? Is it maybe because fans don’t care to pay money to see matches they can see for free? Why would you spend $40 to see DX and John Cena when you can catch them on “Raw” the next night, wrestling for free! When was the last time you saw Chuck Liddell fight for free on television?
I don’t want to see “iMPACT!” go to two hours. What I want is for TNA to use the time they have more effectively. If pay-per-view is the top revenue source, then television must be used to properly attract people to spend money. Hope you catch Ortiz and Liddell on Saturday, because unlike in WWE, it won’t be on free television next week.
4 comments: on "The Purpose of Television"
I see your point clearly, but TNA stands for Total Nonstop Action... I do think over time they will learn a fine medium within production to sell a good story while not dragging on (a virtue WWE has been lacking)
Yes but part of the thing PPV's conditioned us to believe was that you were getting something different - that you couldn't get on free tv.
Would Cena VS. Edge pop a buy rate in 2007? No. Why? Because we saw it soooo many times in 06 on PPV and on RAW.
PPVs should be reserved for fresh match ups, not the same thing you've seen for free - regardless of match quality.
its tough to influence someone to buy a match without giving them a free taste
There really is a big difference between MMA and TNA, though. MMA is real. There are real people who are actually going to try and knock the other guy out cold. This naturally appeals to guys. With that fact in the back of your mind, knowing that two really strong, ahtletic guys are gonna go at it is gonna cause you to wanna see the PPV. Not much buildup needed.
TNA, however, is staged. It is a soap opera and should be treated accordingly. Background stories and characters have to be established, and storylines need time to develop. You yourself even said that the Angle/Joe promo last night should have been at least 10 minutes long. How could TNA do that, while still being able to effectively sell the entire pay-per-view with the remaining 32 minutes they have? The PCS has vignettes every week, as do the VKM. This is not even mentioning the NWA Heavyweight Title storyline. Now, if all of those were given what would be dubbed as a proper amount of time for the storyline to develop, there would be no time left for any wresting, or even any midcard storylines.
One hour wrestling programs were fine in the 80's. You had months to build up a match before a pay-per-view. But with monthly pay-per-views, and only one hour a week to pop them, things will get lost in the shuffle. TNA already tries to plug its pay-per-views without having the show be all free pay-per-view quality matches, but one hour is not enough to develop all of the storylines, and that's why things get rushed. If TNA could get a two hour spot, I believe it would be another huge stepping stone for them.
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