Mid-2013 Ratings Review

Do you know one of the interesting things about Nielsen ratings? They have been based on a sample of a couple thousand households for decades. There are millions and millions and millions of households with at least one TV set, but so much is put on the value of a sample size that represents less than 1% of that number. All of a sudden, I actually don't feel too bad about that whole "(not provided)" thing I was talking about yesterday. That only creates a black hole for less than 10% of my search keyword data. My analysis was still based on more than 90% of data that was there. Last time I checked, 90 is bigger than 1. In the end, those Nielsen ratings still count. With the first 6 months of the year over, how have the three major shows been doing?

Raw has had a rough last few weeks. I get my numbers from here. Since the start of May, Raw has only gotten ratings above a 3.0 twice. The McMahons have been involved regularly in angles in the last few weeks. That isn't going to end anytime soon. The WWE has also had a few returns and some good storylines here and there. They have really been trying. They have also been hyping the debut of The Wyatts, which I will talk about later this week. Despite it all, the numbers don't seem to be showing an impressive bump. I would give it some time. The mid-year ratings average for 2013 is about the same as it was last year. It is a 3.14 for the first 6 months. The main difference has been that 2012 didn't have that string of ratings below a 3.0 that the last two months have had. That is not a good sign. If that trend continues, the annual average will be worse this year than last year. Of course, Twitter will save the day, right?

Smackdown's ratings has started to sink in the last three weeks. Smackdown was actually doing pretty good before that. It was doing better than it did last year. Last year's mid-year average was around a 1.91. Things have been better. Who do you attribute that to? The Shield? Alberto Del Rio? Big Show? How about just spreading things around better? Or were there just no good baseball games on this year? Going back a few years, ratings sank for Smackdown soon after Randy Orton won the title from Christian. Was it because Orton could not draw viewers? Or was it just something that happens that time of year? Ratings may not have had that sudden dip at the same time as it did back then, but a sudden dip has still eventually happened this year. Just like some fans like to blame Randy Orton for that ratings drop back then, will the WWE having The Shield lose on Smackdown be blamed for ratings sinking recently?

And TNA? They are regularly scoring below a 1.0 again. The mid-year average in 2012 was almost a 1.05. It is a 1.02 this year. They have been engaging in their little stable wars and trying to have swerves here and there, but nothing seems to give them a good boost. They haven't gotten even to a 1.2 all year. And things will not get better for them in the second half of the year. There are football games on Thursday nights. With their mid-year average already lower than last year's, it is not hard to imagine that the 2013 annual average will end up being horrible. It was an 1.01 last year. It could very well drop under a 1.0 this year. That would be ugly.