The average age of Raw, Smackdown, & Impact Viewers

[Playaz Eyez]

Idk why Meltzer brought up the head-to-head competition part. If you really study the ratings from 2001 and 2002 you'll see that WWE never converted WCW fans so that's a moot point.

If WWE dying, it's because cable is dying too because all 3 hours of RAW are in the top 10 for Monday cable ratings every week.

This. Once WCW was purchased, you saw a noticeable rise in the ratings, then a gradual decline that you see today. I'm sure a lot of people (including myself) and the WWE thought we were gonna see WCW fans just come right over, but boy that didn't happen

 

[Buggsy Mogues]

This is all based off Nielsen, which is an antiquated system. Many young people aren't sitting down watching wrestling on cable TV anymore, but they still watch

 

[AKM-95]

TV ratings although still important, are not the true number of people watching. Times have changed and the Network and other streaming services are the future. Another good way to look at it is by viewing WWE's massive social media presence.

WWE's YouTube channel has roughly 12.4M subscribers. Now that's a free service, but if you figure about 10-15% of that number are actual paying customers (have the Network, attend live events in their area, etc.) then that's about 1-2M people. And that's pretty much where the Network subscriptions are right now.

Yup there isn't always a relationship between ratings and product interest. I know for a fact that my nephew is a fantastic about WWE but spends all day on YouTube watching the product because he doesn't have cable. Plus I don't know the last time yall went to a WWE show but they still bring in a lot of kids and parents into their shows.

If any thing WWE is in a similar spot to MLB they have to find a way to make their product relevant to people between 18-35 without alienating their current fanbase.

 

[Da King]

This. Once WCW was purchased, you saw a noticeable rise in the ratings, then a gradual decline that you see today. I'm sure a lot of people (including myself) and the WWE thought we were gonna see WCW fans just come right over, but boy were that didn't happen

Once the word on the street was that GOATsso wasn't returning to pen RAW, majority stopped watching

Numbers don't lie

 

[Hey_zeus]

What about the thousands of wrestling fans who's viewing habits can't be measured?
They are most likely younger.

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

MEMES ARE THE NEW RATINGS, BROTHER! TWITTER'S GOT THE SCOOPS, DUDE! PUSH GIFS, MEAN GENE!

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

TNA & LU getting 50 year olds? That doesn't seem right at all. I would've thought 30 & 40 yr olds.

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

Were discussing this like it isnt common knowledge. Dont let the trolls on here fool you. The IWC are STILL the only fans that matter in the long run. Chasing the casual fan is stupid. They will ALWAYS move on. The dedicated fan while still can stop watching, is harder to deter. Keep them happy and youll still make money.

 

[GoddamnyamanProf]

So WWE spokesman Cena is on record saying the show is intended for 9 year olds because thats what they think their target audience is, meanwhile research shows their average viewer was 9 when Hulkamania was runnin wild...

 

[richaveli83]

I don't think it's accurate. When I went to a WWE house show in January a good chunk of the crowd were children. Mind you Cena, Reigns, and the New Day were not there and were not advertised to be there. Plus you have a lot people who don't have traditional cable but use streaming services like Playstation Vue and/Sling TV to watch live or the replay on Hulu. DVR also plays a big role. The core audience is probably guys in their late 20's-mid 30's that grew up in the tail end of the New Generation era and beginning of the attitude era.

 

[TBdaGhost]

How can that be true? Are 55 year olds really watching wrestling like that?

Never realy see people over 40 at live shows

 

[TBdaGhost]

Wrestling is dumb as hell

Fixed

I dont care about grammar. But if your going to call something dumb though

 

[TrueEpic08]

For everyone talking about cord-cutting, time-shifting, etc...

80-83% of households in the US still receive cable services. Let me repeat this so nobody misses it: 80-83% of US households still receive traditional cable services.

Let's do some math then: if we take the average age of RAW viewers that Meltzer reports to be the average age of the number of households still receiving traditional cable (to be generous to the cord-cutting argument, we'll put it at the 80% number), and say that the other 20% of households are right in the middle of the 18-35 demographic at an average age of 26, then that drops the overall average age of the RAW viewer to the extremely youthful age of 38. This would square with everything I've ever heard from shareholder reports (namely that the average age of a WWE viewer/fan skews mid-late 30s).

fukk everyone giving anecdotal reports here, because the facts have been written on the wall for a long time: Wrestling is not creating new fans (and if the Nielsens aren't enough to convince you, check the declining ratings and house show numbers over the years), but rather only recycling the old ones they've had since 1998 or so for the most part.

 

[MrFirst2doit]

How is this measured...If a father who pays the bills throws on raw for his John cena loving kid and leaves the room....is that box measured as a 45 year old viewer?

 

[stro]

TNA and LU having an older fan base than WWE is very odd. 50 year olds watching LU were like 18 when Hogan won his first WWF championship. They were probably watching when Bob Backlund won his first title. And now they're watching a lucha based show with murders, time travelers, and gods incarnated in the body of women.