What's the story?
This week's viewership numbers are in, and things don't look good for the rebuilding Impact brand!
In case you didn't know....
Early on in the week, TNA parent company Anthem Sports bought Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling, to the surprise of many people in the wrestling industry. After all, GFW doesn't have anything of real value to offer...or so we thought.
As it turns out, Anthem officials recognised that while GFW didn't necessarily have an established history, they did have a name, which is sometimes worth the investment alone. Moving forward, Impact Wrestling will be known as Global Force Wrestling.
The heart of the matter
According to a report published by Cagesideseats.com, Impact Wrestling’s viewership numbers took a rather dramatic dip this week. Down from the previous week, which saw viewership numbers hit 342k, this week's total was 268k, which dropped the overall ratings to 0.07, down from 0.1 the week prior.
Impact Wrestling’s weekly viewership numbers had been slightly improving, prior to this week, which had given the company a little hope that maybe things were starting to turn for the better. Here’s a look at the week-by-week totals for the month of June:
-This week(June 28): 268k/0.07
-June 21: 342k/0.1
-June 15: 327k/0.08
-June 8: 318k/0.06
-June 1: 287k/0.07
What's next?
This was the Slammiversary XV “Go-Home” week for Impact Wrestling, which should have led to respectable numbers. With the big pay-per-view happening this weekend, combined with all the other company news, you would have thought they would've had strong ratings. With that said, the company could see a rebound next week, with the Slammiversary fallout going down this coming week, but this will be based on what happens at the pay-per-view.
Author’s take
TNA has had years of inconsistency, which has led to repetitive struggle after struggle. For once, I would love to see these guys start pulling good weekly numbers. But, for that to happen, several things must occur. One of which is they must hit the road and hit it strong. Go to the mid-major markets and find a way to fill 5,000 seat venues.
They have the talent; they just need to be promoted properly. If they can just figure this part out, everything else will fall into place. I’d also like to see the 6-sided ring taken out behind the old barn and put out of its misery as well, but some TNA purists may think that's going a bit too far. The bottom line is this....I just want to see this company thriving. Period. If they can just find a way to get over the hump, I still believe they can make chicken salad out of chicken excrement.
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