Vince McMahon recently spoke on WWE’s quarterly investors call. During this, he was asked about WWE’s viewership and ratings dropping without any competition from sports.
Here is what Vince said (h/t to Fightful for the quotes below):
“We are the only sports environment at the moment, but it’s a different feel completely. We’re doing really well, beyond anyone’s expectations, by doing the show without an audience. Everything we do is about the audience and how they react and the way you read them. We need to be able to figure out ways, which we are, where you’ll hear the performers ‘putting the bad mouth’ on each other, which you never hear before. We can go outside of the environment too, so you don’t stay there for two or three matches, we need some relief. We’re figuring that out as well. A lot of things to figure out in this environment, what can you do and what resonates. It’s brand new for us, for anyone. There’s no audience, it’s a completely different show. I think we’re going to get there; taking this negative and already turning it into somewhat of a positive. As far as ratings are concerned, SmackDown has virtually been no change, very little. Raw has suffered, but not necessarily because of the environment. It’s suffered because we bring in a lot of new talent to Raw and it takes a while to get new talent over. We no longer have Brock Lesnar, obviously, but we have a new champion and a lot of new performers coming in. That’s the reason, and how you use those performers in this story or that story. With new talent, it’s going to take a little while. I’m convinced the Raw ratings will bounce back considerably.”
Vince also spoke about his relationship with FOX and NBC Universal. Here is what he said:
“Our partners, obviously, are not doing as well as they would like to, nor are we. But as far as the content is concerned, they totally get that it’s not our fault, it’s not anyone’s fault. You’re not performing in front of a live audience, but they’ve lauded what we’re doing. There’s nothing out there now. We’re live sometimes, taped sometimes. We have a really good relationship with both partners. They have our backs, as we do theirs”
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In other news, check out our Wrestlemania 38 predictions.
On a related note, check out the latest rumor on Vince’s bad mood backstage.