The Hamilton Ave Journal 04.26.08: Volume 1 Issue 31
Posted by JP Prag on 04.26.2008
TNA crosses the line and names a new U Champion, WWE looks to change demographic focus, JAKKS Pacific loses more than a contract to the WWE, Midways TNA iMPACT gets an official release date, ratings drop as much as 12%, and CM Punk makes his debut in the Top Ten.
THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL
By JP Prag
Volume 1 Issue 31
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Hamilton Ave Journal is the only wrestling news report focused solely on the business of wrestling. Here in the Journal we not only look at the stories that are important to the investor and business-minded person, but also delve deeper into stories that most fans of wrestling would overlook. That is because the Journal is about getting the heart of the matters that affect the companies and outlooks of the wrestling world.
And where is Hamilton Ave? That is the location of the WWE Production Studio in Stamford, CT, and thus the most powerful place in the wrestling world. Besides, The East Main Street Journal just does not have the right ring to it.
Who am I? I am JP Prag: consultant, entrepreneur, businessman, journalist, and wrestling fan.
Now, ring the bell because the market is open.
WHAT'S NEWS
The Journal's front page area known as What's News isn't just about telling you what has happened. The stories in this section are about what will have an effect on the wrestling industry, individual federations, and the wallets of the fans.
LEAD STORY: TNA crosses the line and names a new champion
On March 27, 2008 TNA launched a new slogan and add campaign called "Cross the Line" (and subsequently trademarked it a week later). The "Cross the Line" advertisements are designed, according to TNA, to encourage wrestling fans to recruit people to watch the product and to attract wrestlers from around the world to join the TNA roster.
TNA has had similar promotions in the past, most notably the TNA Street Team and the TNA U Tournament. As it was, this past Monday April 21, 2008, TNA named a TNA U champion for work in advertising TNA and spreading awareness.
According to TNA concerning the program: "students across the country have been hard at work passing out flyers, hanging posters and doing everything they can to spread the word about TNA Wrestling. The groups TNA U refers to as "Chapters" receive credits for every promotional TNA U related work they do."
These are not college credits, but credits on TNA's website that determine overall rank. The top ten were posted every week, with the winner in the end being ahead by one credit. Winners from TNA U Washburn Chapter have one a special viewing of TNA iMPACT with TNA talent, a la a Nitro Party of the late 90's.
TNA continues to work to build brand awareness and get people to view the product, and the Cross the Line promotion is designed to do similar and more work, although no concrete examples have been given on how TNA plans this promotion to be different than any others.
WWE changes demographic focus
Word got out this week that there has been a directive to raise the involvement of African American and other black wrestlers on WWE programs. Ratings trends have revealed there has been an overall downturn in African American and other black viewers since 2006 at a higher rate then other demographics.
A couple of years ago, the WWE startedat least on paperto shift demographic focus to push Latino wrestlers and programs, most notably on SmackDown. Latinos, one of the fastest growing demographic in the United States, represented a large market for the WWE to tap. Additionally, the WWE Global expansion has moved into much of South America and Western Mediterranean countries that share many ethnic and social trends and tastes. If the WWE had a program already tailored to this demographic, it would be easier to export and sell.
Although there has been some success with this initiative, the WWE has changed very little and continues to mostly target white USA males 14-35. If anything will ever come of this new initiative remains to be seen, but the WWE would do well to pay attention to population trends. In addition to African American and other blacks continuing to be a larger demographic with more spending power than in the past, Indian, Pakistani, and Arab populations are growing at a large rate in the United States and Western Europe.
There is still plenty of money to be made with the core demographic, but if the WWE is looking for a wider and more diverse base, they would best be served by looking at true trends and expectations outside of the company's norm.
JAKKS Pacific takes another pinfall loss
JAKKS Pacific, current distributor of WWE action figures, posted earnings of $0.03 per share, well below analysts' expectation of $0.19 per share for the quarter. The largest hit to the bottom line was a $2.6 million pre-tax legal bill due to their ongoing battle with the WWE over extortion charges. In 2010, JAKKS will lose all rights to the WWE action figure line to rival Mattel while picking up the rights to TNA at the same time.
Newsbites
Some items of note in the rest of the wrestling business world:
WrestleMania 24 will be the first WWE DVD to come out in the Blu-ray format, set for release May 20, 2008. the WWE is claiming this to be the first "sports" DVD to come out in the Blu-ray format at all, as apparently Nacho Libre does not count.
Ric Flair has already traveled to Houston, TX in order to help local businesses and the city proper prepare for WrestleMania 25 next year. The WWE is making concerted efforts to make WrestleMania a complete destination event that includes an entire community.
WWE creative team member Michael Hayes was suspended for disparaging remarks against SmackDown star Mark Henry. By accounts, the WWE tried to keep the suspension secret but word got back to wrestlers that Hayes was not around.
Midway has sent out a release date of September 8, 2008 as the release date for TNA iMPACT. No word on why the product was officially delayed, although it may have had something to do with bugs discovered while showing the game off over the past few weeks. Word from Midway is that there may be a release party for the game at August's PPV Hard Justice.
MARKETPLACE
In the Marketplace we look at the trends in television ratings. This section is less for critical analysis by the Journal but more for the reader to see what is really going on and to draw their own conclusions.
As with stocks, here in the Journal we track the progress of television ratings. If ratings are the barometer by which we judge the product, then over the course of 52 weeks we should be able to see patterns, trends, and anomalies. Please note that gaps in the chart below are due to data not being released/available.
For the week ending Thursday April 24, 2008, here are the current standings of our shows:
RAW
Close (This Week's Rating): 3.0
Open (Last Week's Rating): 3.2
Percentage Change: ▼ 6.3%
52-Week High: 4.2
52-Week Low: 2.5
All Time High: 8.1
All Time Low: 1.8
SmackDown*
Close (This Week's Rating): 2.2
Open (Last Week's Rating): 2.5
Percentage Change: ▼ 12.0%
52-Week High: 2.9
52-Week Low: 2.2
All Time High: 5.8
All Time Low: 1.0
* SmackDown! ratings may include fast overnight if final ratings are not posted. Also, SmackDown! ratings are for the prior week as overnights are not available before this article goes to print.
ECW
Close (This Week's Rating): 1.2
Open (Last Week's Rating): 1.3
Percentage Change: ▼ 10.4%
52-Week High: 1.8
52-Week Low: 0.6
All Time High: 2.3
All Time Low: 0.6
TNA iMPACT**
Close (This Week's Rating): 1.0
Open (Last Week's Rating): 1.0
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 1.2
52-Week Low: 0.9
All Time High: 1.2
All Time Low: 0.6
** TNA iMPACT's are for the prior week as ratings may not be available at the time of the Journal's posting
Analysis:
Ratings took a hit across the board for the second week in a row as every show lost viewers except for TNA, which did not lose viewers but is down below the 1.1 average. There is a lot of competition on TV, but as Medialife magazine reported cable television ratings are up overall since the end of the strike. Apparently, all of these additional viewers are not going towards wrestling as viewers are continually pulled towards other programs. Some notes to this week's results:
SmackDown was preempted in several markets. The last time SmackDown saw a 2.2 rating or less was on August 24, 2007. Before that it was on September 15, 2006 when the show got a 1.0 rating after being preempted in nearly all major markets.
Since the beginning of FY08, this is the sixth time ECW has scored a 1.2 or less.
DVR shifting is causing fluctuations in ratings. Two weeks ago, each hour of RAW counted as two of the top five most shifted shows on television. DVR shifts within 7 days are under consideration by Nielson Media to be included as part of overall television ratings.
As mentioned by the Journal over the past several week, each gimmick-filled or heavily hyped RAW is having a smaller and small impact in ratings up to this week where ratings actually dropped from normal numbers. The WWE has oversaturated the market with a large amount of wrestling available during the week, a weakening of the brand extension with large and minor names appearing on two or more programs a week, and giving away big events on TV making each successive one "less special" and therefore less of a reason to tune in.
About a year after the beginning of the brand extension, media research revealed that RAW and SmackDown only shared about 30-35% of the same audience. That is, RAW and SmackDown had different viewership. Instead of polarizing the brands more and going after different audiences, the WWE chose to make the shows more alike and try to take audience from one show and into the other. So now, while RAW and SmackDown/ECW share more of their audience, the total number of viewers has decreased.
MONEY AND INVESTING
We all know that wrestling is a business, but we don't often pay attention to what sells and makes money. Money and Investing looks into the top selling items in the world of wrestling and any interesting figures that may have come out this week.
What are the top ten selling items for the WWE? From WWEShopZone.com:
1. Triple H Hammer T-Shirt
2. Jeff Hardy Armbands
3. Hardys Twist of Fate DVD/T-Shirt Package
4. Ric Flair Commemorative T-Shirt
5. John Cena 8-Bit T-Shirt
6. WWE Black Gift Bag
7. Chris Jericho Save_Us. 222 T-Shirt
8. Hardys Purple Logo Pendant
9. CM Punk Ribs T-Shirt
10. WWE Heritage III Chrome Trading Cards
The Hardys appear to never be too far from min as they hold three of the top ten spots, including the Jeff hardy Armbands making it to number two. Chris Jericho has also made a surprise return to the list this week with the Save_Us.222 T-shirts (which he has been rarely wearing). Perhaps his extra exposure during SmackDown and RAW along with his King of the Ring performance helped boost sales. Meanwhile, his King of the Ring Semi-qualifying opponent CM Punk has finally broken in to the top ten, a positive sign for one of the WWE's newest (comparative) stars.
TNA releases a list of Top Ten selling items, but the list has not been updated to current products in quite some time. Until TNA updates the list, the Journal will be take the list of featured products and sorting by most popular. When done so, the list comes up as:
1. TNA Global iMPACT DVD
2. Lockdown PPV Special Package
3. Nash "Big Sexy Tour" T-Shirt
4. Shark Boy "24:7" T-shirt
5. Final Resolution DVD
6. AJ Styles "Unim Phenomenous" T-Shirt
7. Motor City & Machismo Autographed Pictures
8. Samoa Joe "Drastic Times, Drastic Measures" T-Shirt
9. TNA "Cross The Line" T-Shirt
10. Kurt Angle "Tappin Tonight" T-Shirt
Global iMPACT continues to do well, so it will be interesting to see how the one for the England tour one will do when it becomes available. The TNA Champion has not moved positions since last week which is a bit concerning but not terribly so. Nash and Shark Boy continue to be big sellers, despite not being loved by the IWC. In TNA's early years their audience was definitely the internet wrestling community, but they have moved on to a whole different audience since then. Whether that audience is the same as the WWE's is worth debate.
PERSONAL JOURNAL
Wrestling isn't just about watching and reading. The best way to be a wrestling fan is to experience it live. Where is wrestling coming to in the next 2 weeks? The Personal Journal answers that question.
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
27 (Apr)
WWE Backlash Baltimore, MD
28
RAW East Rutherford, NJ
TNA iMPACT Orlando, FL
29
SmackDown/ECW Atlantic City, NJ
TNA iMPACT Orlando, FL
30
1 (May)
2
RAW Live Montreal, Quebec
3
RAW Live Hamilton, Ontario
SmackDown/ECW Live Moncton, New Brunswick
4
RAW Live Barrie. Ontario
SmackDown/ECW Fredericton, New Brunswick
SmackDown/ECW Saint John, New Burswick
5
RAW Toronto, Ontario
6
SmackDown/ECW London, Ontario
7
8
TNA Live Barre, VT
9
RAW Live Saginaw, MI
TNA Live Derby, VT
ROH Live Manassas, VA
10
RAW Live Kalamazoo, MI
SmackDown/ECW Live Huntington, W.VA
TNA Live Plattsburg, NY
ROH Live New York City, NY
Do you know a wrestling event coming up? Send one in to The Hamilton Ave Journal and we'll be sure to add it to the list.
EDITORIALS
The Editorials section is designed for you, the readers, to respond to the views presented in the Journal, send an important news item, or talk about another overlooked business related item in wrestling. Just beware: the Journal reserves the right to respond back.
From the commentary section last week, there was a lot of interest is John Cena's position in the Top Ten, starting with Davy:
Cena needs to step up, only having one item on the top selling list, and it being in 8th place really shows his Top Dog position is slipping. I'm still a mark for Cena but he needs to try harder.
Kevin seemed to be to thinking the same thing:
Cena's been off of live events and only on television lately due to filming his movie. I'm sure that once he gets back full time he will start selling well again.
MisterXrateD chimed in with an additional thought:
Man Cena's fans are FICKLEEE he's not in the main event for like a month since coming back and his merch has drop dramatically! Ouch that's got to hurt. What does this have to say for his lasting appeal? And maybe he's not as popular as WWE thought.
All right, let's get back to basics here: this is the TOP TEN. That is, out of the hundreds of products the WWE sells on any given week, there are the ones (by volume) that are selling the most. A slip from five to eight is not a major drop nor a sign of loss of popularity. What it is is a sign of saturation. There are only so many people who are going to buy a single product, but Cena has held on with a single product since coming back at the Royal Rumble in January. FDuk200k echoes similar thoughts:
Cena also doesn't have anything new out. Triple H has a new shirt out every week, Cena, since coming back from injury only has the 8 bit shirt and that hasn't left the charts since it entered back in January. Give Cena a shirt a week, like Triple H, and you will see the list dominated by Cena merch.
While this is an exaggeration as Triple H has had several shirts last a few months in the top ten, the point is that one item has had a long lasting value for John Cena while other have had multiple items to keep them in and out of the list. If John Cena was not on the list for several weeks, than there would be an issue. For now, moving all around the list is not that big of a deal, especially since the list moves on a daily basis (this is just a point in time comparison).
The question does remain whether it is time for Cena to introduce a new item. How long does a single item last nowadays? The "Hulkamania" shirt lasted over ten years, the "Austin 3:16" lasted about four years. Can a single item last a year as a top seller in this generation?
Plenty more was written, so be sure to take a look. Also worth your read this week is:
this is one of the best columns on the site, it's unique and always fun to read.
keep up the good work.
Posted By: reader (Guest) on April 26, 2008 at 03:07 AM
The WWE needs to forget about the Era of Orton and move on to the Era of the
Hardys.
The Hardys shifting merchandise on greater levels than Triple H and John Cena.
If only the Hardys were given the Triple H/John Cena push imagine how much
merchandise they would be shifting.
Does the WWE not realise what a gold mine they have in the Hardys.
Forget John Cena, Forget Randy Ortn, Forget Triple H, Forget JBL, it is time
for the WWE to push the Hardys to the moon
Posted By: Era of the Hardys (Guest) on April 26, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Shirts like Austin 3:16 and nWo appeared concurrently with the wrestling boom of
the late 90s, fueld by two of the bigger reasons. Those shirts became pop
culture iconography of rejecting the status quo and anarchy, through wrestling.
I don't think it's fair to compare those shirts, and the numbers moved, with
any current wrestling paraphernalia. At least until wrestling hits another
(theorized) boom period.
In the past, a shirt, like Hulkamania's, could work for years. But the WWF was
still a relatively young company, at least under Vincent K. Over time, they
came to realize the money to be made through quantity of merchandise, and
increased the number of available items. I beleive the relative size of the
company reflects that(not to discount all the other changes they've made in the
past 20 years, it's just one example).
Posted By: G-Walla (Guest) on April 26, 2008 at 01:27 PM
Another fascinating column - the most interesting wrestling screed on the site
in fact as this, not kayfabe or politics, is what it really all comes down to -
MONEY!
I hope Jeff keeps shifting units, as its the only way he'll get back in the
world title picture. And lets be honest, for all we want Matt to do well
('cause he's actually a good technical wrestler) it's Jeff who shifts the
units.
If WWE could stabilise a single set of Tag Belts then what money on a long
Hardys reign?
That aside, here's hoping Y2J's shirt sales earn him a more significant role.
Posted By: evil_dave83 (Guest) on April 26, 2008 at 05:14 PM
