“In a move that could put significant pressure on network TV ad rates in the future, Nielsen Media Research this fall will test tracking how many people watch TV commercials.” – USA Today (7/11/06)
And with that, the world of television found itself altered forever. What this means for WWE, TNA, and the UFC will be interesting. Despite having great ratings for years, WWE has never been able to command top advertising dollars because of the perception that wrestling fans, well, anyone reading this knows the stereotype. Poor, stupid, etc… The UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” has reportedly earned even less money per commercial than WWE. This move could see the ad rates increase or decrease, based on who’s watching the commercials.
When people change the channel, Nielsen will know.
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The Upside
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Wrestling fans are loyal. Adult wrestling fans are perhaps the most die-hard people on earth. They put up with ridicule from friends, family, and the majority of society for following a “dumb sport like wrestling.” In the face of being a societal outcast, wrestling fans keep going strong. Even when the product itself is horrible, wrestling fans are tough to drive away. WCW’s ratings eventually tanked, that’s for sure, but it still took a long time for that to happen. The Russo-era WCW still saw millions of people watching every single week. And even when WCW was at its lowest point, it still brought in viewers higher than all but the top cable shows.
It’s possible that unlike your average TV viewer, wrestling fans may be less likely to change the channel during a commercial. Their loyalty might be such that they don’t want to chance missing a moment of action and will thus watch all the commercials. If wrestling fans watch more commercials than the “Scrubs” fan, in theory it could raise the ad rates.
This may end up making WWE’s decision to not get a share of ad revenue a decent one – for now. Long term, of course USA will be upset if the show they’re paying tens of millions of dollars a year for isn’t bring home the bacon, but for now, WWE might (MIGHT) end up winning. WWE will not directly feel the pressure to get people to stick around and watch the commercials.
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The Downside
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This is obvious. If wrestling fans are the type the flip around the dial during a commercial, the rates could go down. Advertisers don’t care how many people watch the actual show; their only concern is how many people watch the commercials. Monday Night Football season could be particularly interesting. Historically, Monday wrestling TV ratings dipped a bit when football was on. If you have a fan watching RAW, he may still be interested in seeing the Giants play the Colts and flip over during the commercial break.
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What Else?
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You could see shorter commercial blocks, but more of them. Right now, you kind of know that when the commercials come on, you’ve got 2-4 minutes until the show resumes. If they suddenly run one commercial of 30 seconds, and then come back to the show, you might not change the channel. Wrestling could benefit from this more than traditional programming. The nature of episodic, scripted, shows is that there is a natural flow to the program. Wrestling, though, can probably “cut away” more frequently than other shows.
WWE also benefits from having a really solid business model. WWE knows how to get people to buy their shirts, DVDs, PPVs (until recently), and so on. They’re not dependent on ratings, even when they were on Spike, as some shows are. NBC derives the majority of its money from ratings. WWE does not.
On the other hand, a regular show like “Seinfeld” has more opportunities for “in show product placement.” You can show Jerry drinking a can of Coke, or George eating a bag of Doritos in a really natural way. People might not even “understand” that it’s a commercial moment. Wrestling does this to a degree: you see a wrestler wearing his shirt, headband, whatever, and you think, “Hey, that’s cool. I want one.” But because wrestling isn’t in a normal setting, instead taking place exclusively inside a ring with tidbits backstage, you can’t have as many casual product placements.
The UFC is an even worse spot than WWE in that regard. The Ultimate Fighter can casually place products about (though the Xyience placement has been blisteringly obvious), but outside of putting ads on the octagon, there isn’t any other way to “subliminally market” something. However, the sporting aspect of the UFC should give it some breathing room. People probably aren’t going to do a ton of channel flipping in between rounds of a fight (think of how often you flip away when a football game pauses for 30 seconds in between a play).
And I should note that this type of product placement is a big no-no in England. The Ultimate Fighter has had complaints lodged against it in the past for the blatant Xyience placing.
It’s a brave new world in television this fall. How this plays out is anyone’s guess, but wrestling has lived and died based on TV. TNT doesn’t want WCW and the company dies, Spike publicly states they don’t want WWE which ends up costing WWE leverage with USA, Spike gets behind the UFC 100% and the show is a success, and so on. With all of TV about to be shook up by Nielsen’s announcement, wrestling fans should brace themselves for the news that this has affected their beloved product as well.
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