Tag: aew

AEW’s Women Have Yet to Main Event Dynamite and Seldom Appear in Other Key Quarter-Hours

The 1st, 5th, and 8th quarter-hours are arguably the most important segments of either two-hour program, AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT. All Elite Wrestling's roster of women haven't main evented any of the 45 episodes in the history of the company's flagship program, Dynamite, which airs Wednesdays on TNT, head-to-head against WWE NXT on the … Continue reading AEW’s Women Have Yet to Main Event Dynamite and Seldom Appear in Other Key Quarter-Hours →

Key demo and total audience: What are they and how much do they matter?

The metrics we've followed throughout the last few decades of wrestling television history have changed. In the "Monday Night War" era, amid the competition ultimately won by WWF Raw over WCW Nitro, reports dwelled on TV ratings: a number with one or two decimal places. Those numbers measured a program's total audience. But around the … Continue reading Key demo and total audience: What are they and how much do they matter? →

Rumors of Pay-Per-View’s Death Were Greatly Exaggerated

When I came on board in 2009, one of my responsibilities that Vince [McMahon] gave me was running our infamous pay-per-view business… I came from the NBA, I came from the world of tennis where the vernacular, even a business model of pay-per-view didn't exist, so of course when I was given the responsibility to … Continue reading Rumors of Pay-Per-View’s Death Were Greatly Exaggerated →

COVID-19 Cases Tick Back Up In Florida Counties Where WWE and AEW Run, Rising In Mexico; Japan Easing Restrictions

ouworldindata.org Despite a pandemic, many wrestling companies are running wrestling events for video or TV purposes, without fans in attendance. The safety of those events varies and depends on factors, including the prevalence of COVID-19 in the local area, whether individuals participating are otherwise at risk of being infected, and the precautions being taken in … Continue reading COVID-19 Cases Tick Back Up In Florida Counties Where WWE and AEW Run, Rising In Mexico; Japan Easing Restrictions →

Will Audiences That Turn Off Empty Arena Shows Come Back?

The short-term effects of COVID19 to WWE’s, and maybe AEW's, finances may actually be positive, not negative. The inability to run normal live events actually reduces costs. TV rights payments to the company from broadcast partners, related to flagship programs Raw and Smackdown, appear unimpeded. In other words, the cost of producing programming has been … Continue reading Will Audiences That Turn Off Empty Arena Shows Come Back? →

WWE COVID-19 Financial Risk Assessment

The following is an attempt to model how COVID-19 related restrictions will impact WWE's finances. Obviously, it's uncertain how long WWE will be unable to run live events. This model considers the financial impact to WWE, at monthly and quarterly intervals, through the remainder of 2020. Ultimately, I concluded that if WWE doesn't run live … Continue reading WWE COVID-19 Financial Risk Assessment →