While on an investors call yesterday, Vince McMahon was asked about the staggering decline in Raw ratings during this pandemic, and below are some of the highlights.
“As far as ratings are concerned, more than any other sport…the audience is integral to our success and our television ratings. Again because interaction, or lack thereof. Not withstanding that, I think that we can have more compelling characters, better storylines, new characters coming in to where we are right now, and more content that’s not necessarily in the ring, but that focuses on our personalities and their story outside of the ring.”
McMahon was also asked why ratings for AEW and the NXT brand have been stronger than Raw during this pandemic:
“I think simply because they’re new. It’s something that’s new, and what have you. And it’s up to us to make Raw and SmackDown feel more youthful, and that is where we’re going….you always have to build characters, constantly. As far as Paul Levesque helping out on Raw and SmackDown, that happens, it’s all hands on deck in terms of all that we do.”
There was also an unexpected comment on the creative side of things by McMahon:
“As far as Paul Heyman’s concerned, he did I thought a very very good job in terms of creativity.”
To conclude, McMahon was asked whether the ratings recovery timeline would be months or years:
“It just takes months. The key here is to be in front of an audience. That’s the main thing…they’re like a third person in the ring, so to speak. We shoot the audience a lot more than any sport, because they’re such an integral part to what we do. So, I would like to think it’s months away.”
Clearly not everything is going to plan, and that is despite WWE posting some very healthy financial results in their second quarter 2020 financial results yesterday. What do you think of Vince McMahon’s response to the declining Raw ratings?
