Eric Bischoff has assessed the impact of WWE Raw being moved to a different night of the week.
For over 30 years the flagship show has been broadcast on Monday nights, with only holidays or unforeseen circumstances causing changes to regularly scheduled programming. However, with the company no longer independently owned, there have been discussions that WWE Raw may move off of Mondays when the new media rights have been successfully negotiated.
As has been seen with WWE and AEW programming, when a show moves from its usual timeslot or channel for a week or two it suffers in the ratings. So what could happen if there is a permanent change?
Speaking on Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff detailed how forming a habit is helpful in the ratings and what happens when that habit is suddenly broken:
“One of the things you do when you’re creating a television brand or a property is you’re trying to develop a habit with your audience to tune in. You want them to anticipate. You want them to make it a part of their regular viewing habit,” Bischoff explained. “Anytime you move from your regular night, either voluntarily or not voluntarily, it has a negative impact. [It’s] hard to measure [the impact] sometimes and what makes it difficult to measure is because the wrestling audience is extremely loyal.”
Bischoff continued, stating that while there could be a drop in viewers at first but when fans have adapted to the change then the ratings should stabilise:
“So the odds that you’re going to lose a significant part of your audience for any length of time is pretty minimal because of that loyalty,” he said. “Maybe initially [they’ll lose some viewers], because again, people are slow to change their habits and it takes a little bit of effort to remember to program your DVR [or] to remember to schedule your week around something that’s changing nights if you like to watch it live.”
Eric Bischoff Scouts Next Top Star
The Hall of Famer has been very complimentary about a particular star currently competing on the NXT roster. In regards to what the future holds for them, Eric Bischoff has stated that he would be very surprised if they were not called up to the main roster in a matter of weeks.
H/t to Wrestling Inc.