TR's Thoughts #9

In this weekly column, I will comment on the past week's goings-on in WOW, and whatever else it occurs to me to discuss :-) I also hope that a big part of the column will be printing and responding to your e-mails. So please send them in (the address is thatthing35@yahoo.com)!

4/5/2001: Some Ruminations on the WCWECWWWF and WOW

As we've discussed in previous columns, WOW is teetering on the brink right now. After the unsuccessful Feb. 4 PPV, they canceled the next scheduled show taping, and there is no date set for any future live shows. WOW's goal right now is to stay on TV, because if they're no longer on TV, you can fold up the tent. I mean, yeah, technically, they could still try to cut everything down to the bare bones, do shows in very small arenas with a very small roster, and try to build back up to the point where they can get a TV deal... but given how much money they've lost to this point, I think there is zero chance that the financial backers are willing to start from scratch. Realistically, WOW needs to stay on TV, and that is why they are running re-runs right now. But, WOW can no longer afford to pay TV stations for time slots. The original plan, as detailed here two weeks ago, was to talk local broadcast stations across the country into showing them for free. Given that the wrestlers are now talking exclusively about a "cable deal," I assume that plan didn't work out.

WOW's continuing troubles have been dwarfed in the wrestling news by the "story of the century": WWF's acquisition of WCW, which leaves us with only one major federation. I was thinking the other day about the whole WCW thing. WCW was going to be bought by Fusient, and the deal was thisclose, but it fell through when the show was canceled off TNT/TBS. The fact that this was a deal killer indicates that Fusient didn't feel it could get the show on anywhere else (they talked to Fox, and presumably others). It's hard to spin this as being a good sign for WOW's chances to stay on TV. Either it's a bad sign for WOW, or it's irrelevant to WOW. I will lay out the case for both sides, and you make the call.

Glass is Half Empty:

If WCW couldn't stay on TV, how the heck can WOW, considering that:

• WCW, having been around forever on a "superstation" and having had its undeniable moments of glory, is a much more known "brand name" than WOW. A related point is that WCW had many, many more devoted fans than WOW.
• WCW boasted nationally known wrestlers like Ric Flair and Scott Steiner. None of WOW's wrestlers are currently known names.
• There is a proven audience in the U.S. for men's wrestling, if done well. But there has yet to be a successful American women's wrestling promotion.
• David McLane's track record -- two previous failed women's wrestling promotions -- should not be too comforting to stations considering the program.
• The death of WCW and ECW may scare stations into thinking that the wrestling boom is over, and that it's the wrong time to get into wrestling.
• The failed PPV may indicate to stations that there is not a lot of serious support for WOW.
• The TNT/TBS execs who canceled WCW cited the difficulty of getting good advertisers for "lowbrow" programming like wrestling. (Apparently, NASCAR is now highbrow, since they kept that.) WOW, whose sponsors seem to be primarily male virility products, has not proven the ability to get the kind of sponsors a station would really like to see. WOW itself, in its press release announcing the "play us for free" policy, stated the decline in the advertising market as the reason for the policy change. (That's brilliant writing, by the way. "The advertising market is declining, so, we want you to rely on advertising revenues to make money off our show.")

Glass is Half Full:

WOW is a lot different than WCW, in that:

• WCW was owned by AOL/Time Warner, their broadcaster. So when WCW lost money, that was coming directly out of the pockets of the company putting them on TV. WOW, unless they have to sell out in order to get a cable deal, is an independent entity. If the show got bad ratings, of course, it could end up costing the company money indirectly. But the hit to the company that broadcasts them would not be as direct.
• If WOW does need to sell out to their broadcaster to get on TV, they will at least be a lot cheaper to produce than WCW. The wrestlers' salaries are much smaller, and the organization is just less bloated in general.
• WOW is not an inferior version of something that already exists, which was WCW's situation when compared to WWF. WOW is women's wrestling, which is a whole different thing, and is not currently shown on TV anywhere else.
• WOW claims to be getting very good ratings in syndication, so they do have a tiny bit of a track record of successful TV programming.
• To the extent that WOW's problems (including at the PPV) were due to bad production, they would be solved by working with the better production team that a cable deal would hopefully bring.
• WOW might be able to go outside the wrestling fanbase altogether, and attract people who just want to see hot women. (Note that if a station is putting them on the air primarily for this reason, they may want to emphasize the sex appeal more... would McLane and/or the wrestlers go along?)
• Now that there is only one major fed, WOW is arguably in a better position. Wrestling fans who don't like the WWF's style will want an alternative, creating demand for WOW. (But, how many such people are there, and will WOW be the alternative they want to see?)
• Although WCW was a known name, it had become synonymous with badness, so its being known was actually a disadvantage. (I would disagree with this personally, but I could see someone saying it. I would also say that, to many serious wrestling fans, WOW has the same connotation.)
• The upcoming Screen Actors Guild strike may be well-timed for WOW. Stations may want wrestling programming because it won't be affected by the strike. (Then again, this was no less true of WCW.)

You can play a similar game with ECW, which has been folded into the WWF (and still won't admit it, by the way, which shows you how stubborn feds can be about refusing to acknowledge that the end has come.) Many of the same points apply, plus some others. ECW had more fans, and more devoted fans, when they got their TV deal than WOW does right now... but, ECW was often quite controversial, where WOW is family friendly by comparison... but, but, but, etc. etc. etc. I'm sure that at this point, David McLane would be happy to at least get on cable, as ECW did manage to do, and worry about the rest later.

Let's daydream a bit and think about how WOW could potentially get on nationwide TV.

• Fox/FX - Owned by the aforementioned Fox, who didn't want an Eric Bischoff-run WCW.
• WB - That'd be nice, huh?
• USA - They have managed to keep up their ratings without the WWF, and their CEO made extremely disparaging comments about wrestling and its fans. As long as they continue to do well without wrestling, I think they can be ruled out. If they do start to struggle, I'm sure they'd reconsider the wrestling "ban".
• ESPN2 - Supposedly had some interest in WCW.
• E! - E! does show a lot of stuff that is basically an excuse to show women in bikinis. So if WOW is willing to play up the T&A more, maybe they could be on E! Although E! is trying to expand their scope and show more original material, wrestling would still represent a pretty big departure from their format.
• Lifetime/Oxygen - Although these are "women's" channels, it wouldn't be a good match. The stations' existing viewership has little interest in wrestling, and the male WOW audience would shy away from watching on these stations.
• PAX - Dunno much about them. I think they are a "family-oriented" network. Although WOW is certainly more family-oriented than WWF, would they have to tone it down even more to get on PAX?
• TNT/TBS - Umm, they just canceled WCW. I highly, highly doubt they would take a chance on WOW now. Their CEO has also run down wrestling.
• UPN/TNN/MTV/Comedy Central - All legally cannot carry any wrestling besides WWF, so rule them out.

Okay, I can't write a whole column and not tell you what I think. I think that, if WCW couldn't get a TV deal, WOW isn't going to be able to either. But then again, I am a half-empty type of guy. Hopefully, I've given you some brain food to help you form your own conclusions.

I neglected to report that WOW is off the air in New Haven, CT. That happened a couple of weeks ago. This week, it went off the air in Baltimore. If you're keeping score at home, add 'em to the list that includes NYC, LA, Boston, Denver, Portland (OR), Austin (TX), Harrisburg (PA), Norfolk (VA), and Peoria (IL). If you know of any other stations that have canceled WOW, please mail me.

Usual plea to write your local TV stations, sign petitions, etc.

No mail this week (well, except for one incoherent hate letter that I've asked the sender to clarify.) YOUR LETTER COULD GO HERE!

Please e-mail me with your thoughts about this article!
(e-mail: thatthing35@yahoo.com)

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