Maybe there's something to what they're saying about the Nielsens showing an enormous drop in teenage viewing with Hogan on top of the Fed. I know the fans inside the arenas are still somewhat popping for him (though only in Canada is the reaction still mammoth), but the numbers are showing young people disappearing in droves since he became champ.
"You used it to shove your miserable daughter down our throats week in and week out...not anymore!" - Ric Flair gives me hope, Raw 3/18/02
"I thought it was cool how HHH just tossed Jericho out of the ring and made him vanish, possibly into another dimension, at the end of the match." - Dr. Unlikely says the funniest thing I've ever read on Wienerville
What I find interesting is that during Nitro's rating's dominance, everyone and his brother always maintained that the ratings system was "broken" and that ratings "don't mean anything anyway."
Just like every month when people find the posters for the coming WWF ppv, say they "don't mean anything anyway" and then prognosticate on what exactly said promotional image does indeed mean.
Hrm. Y'know I hadn't even thought of it, but that's a good point: the people at the house shows are more likely to be older folk who have the money to spend on such entertainment. These `older folk' are psyched to see Hogan because it reminds them of the good ol' 80s (and nostalgia sells tickets these days...)
But the young'uns who never sat through the same formulaic angles and the same formulaic matches for ten years just aren't interested in watching it. I'd say they're probably tiring of the Undertaker, too, for that matter.
So who do you play to? The people who have money right now? Or the audience of 5-10 years from now?
Hopefully they decide soon that nostalgia's got a shelf life and that they don't want to alienate a fanbase who prefer Hardyz squashes to Hogan squashes.
Originally posted by tarnishSo who do you play to? The people who have money right now? Or the audience of 5-10 years from now?
Hopefully they decide soon that nostalgia's got a shelf life and that they don't want to alienate a fanbase who prefer Hardyz squashes to Hogan squashes.
Interesting question. And it's actually one that's being faced by the comic book industry right now as well. Last summer, it was announced that G.I. Joe was coming back to comic book form. When it was released, it was (and still is) a HUGE hit. People wrote its success off to nostalgia. Last month, Transformers saw the light of day in comic book form. Next month, Micronauts is coming back. This past weekend, another publisher got the rights to do Thundercats. Friggin' Thundercats.
They're already scraping the bottom of the barrel (and I don't want to hear about how good or bad you think Thundercats or any of this other crap is), thereby watering down the product that started the whole "nostalgia craze" -- which, in this case was the "new" G.I. Joe. So now, the bottom is going to fall out completely, because too many people have jumped on the bandwagon in order to milk everyone's feelings for their own benefit. The companies didn't know when enough was enough; they couldn't see that too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
Which leads me back to Hogan. Should his run last past a month or a couple high-profile title defenses? Would the smartest move involve him actually retiring as champ (probably the first time in WWF history) thereby going out on the high note he most certainly deserves?
Nostalgia is a tricky thing. It's overused way too much far too often. Not many people know how to use it appropriately.
"Nostalgia is a tricky thing. It's overused way too much far too often. Not many people know how to use it appropriately."
True, but I think it may still be too early to tell where all this Gen-X nostalgia will end up. Will Gen-Xers ever grow up and stop buying Transformers and seeing Star Wars movies? Who knows? Will we ever *not* want to see Hulk Hogan drop the big leg on Flair? Again, something like that may not end until one of them has to pull a Superstar Billy Graham and retire due to medical reasons. Every generation has their nostalgia that they fall back on; just look at the WWII generation that came of age in the 50s and all the rock and roll, 57 Chevy stuff that I have to put up with around this time of year living in "American Graffiti" land here in California.
So yes nostalgia can go to far, but I don't know if it ever really goes away. If you are currently in a 15-22 age bracket and can't stand all this Hogan stuff, then in ten years people will be laughing at you for wanting to see Stone Cold hit the stunner on a elderly Vince McMahon. Trust me, this will happen.
DMC
"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality...BUT...there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit...A darkside!" -Tales from the Darkside TV show
Originally posted by Papercuts!... Last summer, it was announced that G.I. Joe was coming back to comic book form. When it was released, it was (and still is) a HUGE hit. People wrote its success off to nostalgia. Last month, Transformers saw the light of day in comic book form. Next month, Micronauts is coming back. This past weekend, another publisher got the rights to do Thundercats. Friggin' Thundercats...
This is actually a very good point. I'm not sure about the GI Joe series, but I have the first two issue of the new Transformers series, and while it is hinting at past events, it is forging ahead with a new story and a different plot than what came before it. This is something that the WWE might want to look at. When you "Go Old-School" you might not want to just bring back the guys from that era, but bring back the style along with it.
Having Hogan and Flair around in the old timers role (the way Baba stepped down in All Japan) would be perfectly ok with me. They deserve a spot, but not the top one. Flair is a great talker, but he should not be the focus of TV. I do not care but one person should never be the focus of any show. In the 80's it wasn't just that Hogan wasn't on TV every week, it was also that his name wasn't mentioned every thirty seconds like it is done with any top star now in the WWE.
Using the past is great to create for the future, but to use the past to help the problems of the present only patches up the problems for a later time.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at the man.
I agree with DMC to a point, however the problem is when it stops being nostalgia and loses its camp appeal by being too serious. If they carted out Hogan in a mid-card role so that people could watch him once a month or every couple of weeks, let him tear the shirt and drop the leg, I think no one but hardcore Hogan-haters would mind. However, last Raw it was Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan for the Undisputed World Title. The thing which everything theoretically should pivot was being contested for by 2 men with a combined age of around 105, and somewhere around 50 years or so combined ring years.
At this point the best way to use up what's left of the nostalgia value is to throw Hogan to the young guys, and let them get some of the rub that he still has left. Since nostalgia is all that he has to offer, that's pretty much bulletproof against clean losses, but tell me Jericho or Edge or RVD or Eddy couldn't benefit enormously from a clean win or two over Hogan. Give the people the whole Hogan schtick. Let him get some wins just to keep people from getting too down on him, but let him spend the next year putting over the young lions of the sport. After all he's taken from it, it's the least he can do, and it'll keep the nostalgia fans happy just to see him do the act a few more times.
"You used it to shove your miserable daughter down our throats week in and week out...not anymore!" - Ric Flair gives me hope, Raw 3/18/02
"I thought it was cool how HHH just tossed Jericho out of the ring and made him vanish, possibly into another dimension, at the end of the match." - Dr. Unlikely says the funniest thing I've ever read on Wienerville
Originally posted by tomvejadaI meant that Goldberg is a big enough draw to improve the ratings. I don't want Goldberg coming back to WWE.
Why would you bring him in just to improve ratings? Higher ratings don't make money. If you can guarantee that he'll draw money, than yes, bring him in. If not, than it's pointless to bring him in.
Matthew: You would've loved it, David. A week in a foreign country, strange people, strange customs... Dave: Oh, I know what you mean. I've been to Canada.
but higher ratings DO make money, at least if they happen during sweeps.
see, a show with higher ratings charges more for ad time than a show with lower ratings, of course it also depends on time slot and audience spread and other advertising industry mnumbo jumbo.
I do miss the old days when you just look at the prodect and say if you like it or not. And if you really are a smark and in tune you look at the crowd reaction and see if it's good or not. Now it seems like everyone lives and dies by the numbers, even though they could be a lot of differnet circumstances revolving around why a number rises or drops.
I do find it really interesting in the wrestling "reporting" that goes on nowadays and the negative slant they place on everything. For example
Smackdown 05/02/02 -dropped from a 3.4 to a 2.9 - Meltz screams "the sky is falling" one week later up to a 3.6 "Hardly a mention"
Raw has been consistently mid 4s, this week dipped to a 3.9 and again "panic button" with a one week drop.
It funny that a one week upswing the Meltz usually states, "don't pay attention to ratings, a one week thing doesn't mean they are on a rise". But this week Raw dropped hard for the first time and it's "Why the WWF is going to die a painful death very soon"
I know why there is very little news that goes on. The Flight from hell last week a once in a blue moon thing where there is actually real interesting stuff going on. So selling "the sky is falling" is a way of getting repeative traffic to come to there site and see if our favourite pastime will actually die "oh god please noooo"
edit in : ratings don't mean everything to advetisers. If you are selling smut TV and advertisers shy away from it because of it, and you get a few point's higher. Then ratings isnt' as importat.
(edited by Net Hack Slasher on 15.5.02 1659)
thanx to His heelness for the modification to make it PG
Originally posted by Papercuts!... Last summer, it was announced that G.I. Joe was coming back to comic book form. When it was released, it was (and still is) a HUGE hit. People wrote its success off to nostalgia. Last month, Transformers saw the light of day in comic book form. Next month, Micronauts is coming back. This past weekend, another publisher got the rights to do Thundercats. Friggin' Thundercats...
This is actually a very good point. I'm not sure about the GI Joe series, but I have the first two issue of the new Transformers series, and while it is hinting at past events, it is forging ahead with a new story and a different plot than what came before it. This is something that the WWE might want to look at. When you "Go Old-School" you might not want to just bring back the guys from that era, but bring back the style along with it.
I thought the Kevin Smith Green Arrow deal was the start of the nostalgia phase in comics?
I do find it really interesting in the wrestling "reporting" that goes on nowadays and the negative slant they place on everything. For example
Smackdown 05/02/02 -dropped from a 3.4 to a 2.9 - Meltz screams "the sky is falling" one week later up to a 3.6 "Hardly a mention"
The 2.9 -is- bigger news because they are testing new lows in the ratings. If they were testing new -highs-, the upside would be the big news, yes. I think if they hyped the 3.6 they could be accused of slanting things because the overall trend is -down-.
Originally posted by Guru ZimI thought the Kevin Smith Green Arrow deal was the start of the nostalgia phase in comics?
I was referring to early 80s toy tie-in nostalgia.
At any rate, Mark Waid's work on Flash is pretty much what started the "Silver Age Nostalgia phase" that began in the mid 90s -- which, IMHO, is where the KS GA run would go. It peaked a couple of years ago and now we're into the "mad ideas" phase popularized by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar.
Pandas are People Too!!!Well the ratings dropped cause that show sucks. Save RVD, Eddie and Brock that show has been pure crap. I'd rather read the Spider-Man clone saga than watch Raw now a days.
We Won! FUCK YOU WRESTLING FANBOYS!! WWF FOR LIFE!! *Insert Nelson laugh here*
[QUOTE]Y'know I hadn't even thought of it, but that's a good point: the people at the house shows are more likely to be older folk who have the money to spend on such entertainment. These `older folk' are psyched to see Hogan because it reminds them of the good ol' 80s (and nostalgia sells tickets these days...)[/QUOTE]
Nah, it's older fokes that stay home and watch rather than spend the money. It's the KIDS (or "punks", as I call them) that go to these shows because they're the demographic that blows their money on stupid things like skateboards.
Hogan is just fun to watch now because stuff like his matches with Flair are so over-done that they're almost silly. It's like watching what Crash Holly would be like if they ever gave him the world title.
I still don't know where this "the ratings have been falling horribly since Hogan because champ" stuff comes from. The ratings have supposedly been falling for months now, and Hogan's only been champ for a few weeks.
Besides, if the ratings REALLY did fall every week as bad as everyone says they do, they'd have hit -467.2 last monday.
Originally posted by Tribal ProphetNah, it's older fokes that stay home and watch rather than spend the money. It's the KIDS (or "punks", as I call them) that go to these shows because they're the demographic that blows their money on stupid things like skateboards.
Tribal Prophet
Tribal Prohet forget to mentioned he walked to school 14 miles each day....uphill both ways. And he ate rocks. And he liked the rocks too because the kids on the west side only got dirt. Kids these days....
Tribal has a point though, in my day we wore flannel shirts and baggy jeans and played hacky sack while listening to Nirvana and lamenting the establishement keeping us down. Now these crazy kids wear pants so big you can't see their feet and have purple hair.
Crazy kids.
But then they probably see me collect He-Man figures and Garbage Pail Kids and call me an old man. Yes lets face it folks- Transformers are for us old people. The funny thing is, in 10 years these kids will be paying top dollar for their favorite Power Ranger or Pokemon thing.
But anyway- the ratings are getting Nitro like. But last time I checked Raw had morphed into Nitro. I mean are there any- bar Undertaker- solid 1998-2000 WWF guys left on Raw? Nope they are all Smackdown. SO the crazy kids are watching Smackdown, if they even have UPN. Yup.
I think if you are in the passing lane, and not passing, your license should be revoked, and you should be forced to ride the bus until you promise to never delay the rest of us again. --George Carlin