On the same weekend where 'WWE Salutes the Troops' aired on NBC Saturday night at 9-10 pm (Fast National 3,385,000 viewers, 1.05 A18-49), comes a report that a new series has been greenlit by WWE called 'WWE Superstars', which is set to debut this coming April 2009 on WGN AMERICA.
I know that USA already airs 'WWE Raw', but does anyone else share my concern that this may be spreading the WWE brand too thin, and perhaps even threatening the Friday night rating strength of MyNetworkTV's 'Friday Night Smackdown' franchise?
Does anybody know whether the 'WWE Superstars' was first offered to MyNetworkTV?
It sounds like WWE could be trying to test the waters: run Smackdown and WWE Superstars for a year to see which network offers up more viewers...then cancel the lesser performing program.
I agree with you that trying to have both long term is likely to dilute the wrestling brand too thin.
Originally posted by Obveeus: It sounds like WWE could be trying to test the waters: run Smackdown and WWE Superstars for a year to see which network offers up more viewers...then cancel the lesser performing program.
I agree with you that trying to have both long term is likely to dilute the wrestling brand too thin.
WWE would be insane if they cancel SmackDown! (if it gets lesser viewers than 'WWE Superstars').
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While highly speculative, the article mentions that the upcoming "Superstars" may be a magazine type series in the same vein as the defunct WWE series "Confidential" which ran on Spike TV several years ago before WWE moved its brand back to Universal Media's USA Network. Given the fact that it is a one-hour series, a magazine-type series would seem like a logical choice, even though Sci-Fi's ECW franchise is also just one-hour.
If "WWE Superstars" is not a magazine-type series but another hour of matches, then it could very well dilute not only MNT's "Smackdown!" franchise but also "Raw" on USA Network and the aforementioned ECW on Sci-Fi.
Another interesting development is that perhaps (as has been suggested), WWE is testing the waters to see how a wrestling series (even a magazine-type series) would fare on WGN America since it and MNT were the only broadcasters to express interest in "Smackdown!" when CW dropped it last spring. Perhaps WWE is less than thrilled with the ratings it has been receiving from MNT - below the ratings it had been averaging on CW - and may possibly opt to move "Smackdown!" to WGN America at the earliest opportunity allowed under its contract with MNT.
Another question all together would be how Tribune's Chapter 11 filing could affect any potential scenario between WGN America and the WWE.
Originally posted by Jay: Perhaps WWE is less than thrilled with the ratings it has been receiving from MNT - below the ratings it had been averaging on CW - and may possibly opt to move "Smackdown!" to WGN America at the earliest opportunity allowed under its contract with MNT.
I've never seen WGN AMERICA even crack the million viewer mark - ever. Thus, I'm not sure they could ever deliver audiences nearing four million, as MyNetworkTV is now doing.
If WWE is concerned about getting the most eyeballs to view its program, then broadcast offers much wider reach than cable.
And I think that if 'WWE Superstars' is indeed a sports news magazine type program, it will probably enhance the value of all the other WWE franchises by cross-promoting their stars and upcoming bouts.
Originally posted by Jay: Perhaps WWE is less than thrilled with the ratings it has been receiving from MNT - below the ratings it had been averaging on CW - and may possibly opt to move "Smackdown!" to WGN America at the earliest opportunity allowed under its contract with MNT.
I've never seen WGN AMERICA even crack the million viewer mark - ever. Thus, I'm not sure they could ever deliver audiences nearing four million, as MyNetworkTV is now doing.
If WWE is concerned about getting the most eyeballs to view its program, then broadcast offers much wider reach than cable.
And I think that if 'WWE Superstars' is indeed a sports news magazine type program, it will probably enhance the value of all the other WWE franchises by cross-promoting their stars and upcoming bouts.
I know for a fact that this summer and early fall more than a million were watching WGN America at times because of Cubs baseball, which was incredibly successful for them this year. If I had to guess, this would be a pretty good draw for WGN America as it has fairly good coverage across the coverage, especially in the midwest.
Some more information on WGN America's upcoming "WWE Superstars" series set to bow in April (courtesy of The Futon Critic)...
NEW YORK, NY and STAMFORD, CT, January 5, 2009--WGN America and World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) enter the ring with a new television partnership. WWE Superstars, a first run, original program will air exclusively on WGN America, Tribune Broadcasting's national Superstation.
The action-packed WWE Superstars, part of a new multi-year agreement with WGN America, will be produced by WWE and will feature Superstars and Divas from the entire WWE roster. The hour-long weekly program, scheduled to debut in April 2009, will provide WGN America viewers the chance to see Superstars and Divas from all three WWE franchises in one program. WWE Superstars is scheduled to air on Thursday nights at 8 and 11pm ET with an additional run on the weekend.
"WWE is one of the great American brands on television and we are thrilled to announce our partnership. The addition of WWE Superstars to WGN America's lineup signals our intention to add more tent-pole programs to our network brand strategy. Going forward, we will play to win," said Ed Wilson, Tribune Company's Chief Revenue Officer and Tribune Broadcasting President.
"WWE programming has a tremendous track record of consistently delivering a diverse and advertiser friendly audience. We fully anticipate that WWE Superstars will be a ratings winner for WGN America," said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Vice President of Television Production.
"WGN America is a general entertainment network featuring original and syndicated series, major league sports including baseball and basketball, as well as theatrical movies. We are committed to delivering compelling, original first-run programming for our viewers and WWE Superstars is the perfect illustration of our strategy," said Sean Compton, Senior Vice President of Programming & Development, Tribune Broadcasting.
I hate to say it being an anti-Cubs guy and all, but I find myself watching WGN America more and more. My parents usually are watching Bewitched or I Dream of Jeanie on Out of Sight Retro Night each Sunday and I like the encores of 7th Heaven each night at 5 and 6 on occasion. I think Bewitched and Jeanie have done well enough for them that they're now airing every weekday too. Overall they've made some nice additions.
The new series, which starts next Thursday April 16th, will contain leftover footage from WWE's three other branded series: 'Smackdown' on MyNetworkTV, 'Raw' on USA, and 'ECW' on SyFy. As such, the series will be an umbrella program rather than developing its own set of stars.
It will be interesting to see whether this new WWE program can help WGN AMERICA breakout above the one million viewer threshold.
'WWE Superstars' premiered to a rather tepid 0.9 "cable household" rating last Thursday on WGN AMERICA, less than half the "broadcast" household average that regularly tune to 'WWE Friday Night Smackdown' on MyNetworkTV every Friday.
This should serve to quell all those who postulated whether WWE was contemplating shifting their valuable 'WWE Smackdown' franchise over to WGN AMERICA.
Originally posted by dumont: 'WWE Superstars' premiered to a rather tepid 0.9 "cable household" rating last Thursday on WGN AMERICA, less than half the "broadcast" household average that regularly tune to 'WWE Friday Night Smackdown' on MyNetworkTV every Friday.
This should serve to quell all those who postulated whether WWE was contemplating shifting their valuable 'WWE Smackdown' franchise over to WGN AMERICA.
Actually, I don't think that performance will "quell" and "postulation" about a move or cancellation of "Smackdown!".
For starters, there are several questions that need to be answered.
-Was that 0.9 "cable" rating just for the 8:00 p.m. telecast. "Superstars" is rerun Thursdays at 11:00 p.m. and Sunday at 12:00 noon. Perhaps some viewers waited to view the later airing on Thursday evening or Sunday afternoon.
-This is only the premiere episode. I believe that the premiere episode of "Smackdown!" on MNT continues to rank as the third lowest rated installment of the franchise, beaten only by the Oct. 31, 2008 and April 3, 2009 episodes.
-WGN America is a cable network and not a broadcast network so it would not be appropriate to compare it with MNT. Certainly MNT has a larger viewership pool than does WGN America. Also, a good number of MNT affiliates are former CW affiliates, the network that used to air "Smackdown!", so viewers were accustomed to watching the series on that affiliate.
-"Smackdown!" has been on television for nearly a decade and has become "appointment television" for wrestling fans while the same cannot be said for "Superstars".
-Fans may have been confused as to what "Superstars" actually was. Is it a re-cap series or a newsmagazine-style show? Those questions have now been answered, but the relative unknown of the series could have kept some viewers away.
Now, if two or three months from now, "Superstars" is still stuck in the same position, then yes, that would "quell" the suggestions of a possible "Smackdown!" move. But one episode doesn't seal or doom the future of "Smackdown!" on MNT.
