Forbes posted a new editorial looking at the declining ratings for WWE on cable, and talks about how this could put pressure on the WWE Network to make sure they still have a worthy home for programming.
The article references some of the RAW and Smackdown shows this summer bringing record low ratings, and compares (and contrasts) the situation to that other other wrestling companies. You can read a few excerpts below:
TNA Wrestling, the closest thing to “competition” that WWE has had since WCW, has had a disastrous stretch over the last couple of years. After losing its spot on Spike TV, TNA moved to Destination America earlier this year, and there are already all sorts of indications that Destination America will drop TNA soon, too.
Could the WWE suffer a similar fate? If officials at the USA Network truly believe that pro wrestling’s popularity is “cycling downward,” then the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Tough Enough couldn’t even draw a million viewers for some episodes, and it likely won’t be back—at least not on TV—as a result. After a strong start, Total Divas on E! has struggled in the ratings department in recent seasons as well, and of course, Raw and SmackDown don’t seem to have any shot of turning things around until perhaps when SmackDown moves to the USA Network in 2016.
But unlike TNA, the WWE has something to fall back on. It’s the aforementioned WWE Network.
