It's the sort of outrageous stunt only WWE chairman Vince McMahon could dream up, giving away millions of dollars to "Monday Night RAW" viewers and calling the lucky winners himself on live TV.
Here's the catch: He's giving the money away by whim, deciding who gets what as he goes. On Monday's USA Network show he gave one winner $16 and the next a hefty $174,984.
McMahon is giving away $1 million each night, and he hasn’t said how long the promotion will last.
But the stunt, now entering its third week, is getting people talking about wrestling and drawing a huge amount of media attention, with the Associated Press, Promo Week and other news organizations that don’t usually cover wrestling doing stories on it.
Which is a good thing, coming at a time when WWE ratings are slumping. “Raw” recently hit its lowest Memorial Day rating in five years.
So far, USA’s viewership hasn’t seen a huge bump. For the week ended June 15, the 10 p.m. “Raw” averaged 4.68 million total viewers compared to 4.73 million the previous week. The 9 p.m. edition averaged 4.5 million, flat to the previous week. But both were up over Memorial Day, and week-to-week viewership among all the major adult demos was up by at least 100,000, a healthy number.
Meanwhile, traffic to WWE.com is surging. From June 2 to 10, WWE.com traffic rose 25 percent from its previous average, to 15 million page viewers per day, and unique visitors were up 28 percent, to 1.2 million, according to WWE figures.
One million people have submitted 2 million entries to the contest, doing so after first tuning into "RAW” in order to learn the password required to enter.
It’s merely the latest in a series of outrageous WWE stunts the past 15 months, like asking the presidential candidates to trade jabs (they settled for sending in taped videos) and putting McMahon and Donald Trump in the ring.
Some wrestling fans are not amused, complaining that McMahon’s antics are taking the focus away from the actual wrestling, and some think the WWE is overreacting to the Memorial Day ratings decline.
“The whole idea that this would increase the ratings is probably one that will initially work,” predicts Pro Wrestling radio host Eric Gargiulo on his PhillyBurbs.com blog.
“However, I know a lot of people who aren’t wrestling fans that tuned in to see the password and quickly turn the channel. These people aren’t coming back when the contest is over. Additionally, the show was so hideous that I would guess that regular fans tuned out and may not come back for awhile.”
***
Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended June 15:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TBS, TNT, FX, Lifetime.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TBS, TNT, Nick at Nite, Fox News Channel.
Top movie (18-49s): USA’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (Saturday, 8:05 p.m.) 1.48 million
Top sporting event (total viewers): TNT’s “Sprint Cup Racing/Michigan” (Sunday, 1:58 p.m.) 5.08 million
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 and 10 p.m.); Bravo’s “Top Chef” (Wednesday, 10 p.m.); TBS’s “House of Payne” (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m.)
Show on the rise: Sci Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica,” Friday 10 p.m. The season finale averaged 1.8 million total viewers and 1.2 million adults 18-49, and the 10-episode half season was up 11 percent among total viewers and 14 percent among viewers 25-54 compared to the corresponding half season last year.
Show on the decline: USA’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” Sunday 9 p.m. While still the No. 10 show for the week among viewers 25-54, “L&O: CI” was off 22 percent week to week from its premiere, from 2.11 million viewers to 1.64 million.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
1948
|
NICK
|
1713
|
|
2
|
TNT
|
1444
|
NAN
*
|
1288
|
|
3
|
TBSC
|
1416
|
TNT
|
1042
|
|
4
|
NAN
|
1293
|
ADSM*
|
964
|
|
5
|
FOXN
|
1214
|
USA
|
935
|
|
6
|
LIF
|
1161
|
TOON
|
879
|
|
7
|
HIST
|
1002
|
TBSC
|
740
|
|
8
|
ESPN
|
994
|
FOXN
|
720
|
|
9
|
HALL
|
978
|
LIF
|
704
|
|
10
|
FX
|
969
|
ESPN
|
666
|
|
11
|
TOON
|
964
|
HIST
|
603
|
|
12
|
HGTV
|
946
|
HALL
|
577
|
|
13
|
SPK
|
913
|
AEN
|
571
|
|
14
|
AEN
|
907
|
FX
|
540
|
|
15
|
SCIF
|
827
|
TRU
|
539
|
|
16
|
DISC
|
815
|
DISC
|
511
|
|
17
|
AMC
|
783
|
HGTV
|
510
|
|
18
|
TRU
|
780
|
SPK
|
504
|
|
19
|
FAM
|
726
|
CNN
|
479
|
|
20
|
CMDY
|
706
|
MTV
|
468
|
|
21
|
CNN
|
702
|
AMC
|
466
|
|
22
|
FOOD
|
692
|
FOOD
|
454
|
|
23
|
TLC
|
653
|
TVLD
|
452
|
|
24
|
TVLD
|
639
|
CMDY
|
441
|
|
25
|
MTV
|
607
|
FAM
|
437
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
Sprint Cup Racng/Michigan
|
TNT
|
3765
|
|
2
|
Army Wives
|
LIF
|
3368
|
|
3
|
In Plain Sight
|
USA
|
2977
|
|
4
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
2976
|
|
5
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2963
|
|
6
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2855
|
|
7
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2720
|
|
8
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2691
|
|
9
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2558
|
|
10
|
Top Chef
|
BRAV
|
2554
|
|
11
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2546
|
|
12
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2524
|
|
13
|
Golf:
U.S. Open
|
ESPN
|
2514
|
|
14
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2463
|
|
15
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
2451
|
|
16
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
2418
|
|
17
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2390
|
|
18
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2389
|
|
19
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2383
|
|
19
|
Law & Order: CI (orig)
|
USA
|
2383
|
|
21
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
2380
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2376
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2376
|
|
24
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2369
|
|
25
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2364
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
582
|
ADSM*
|
496
|
|
2
|
TBSC
|
554
|
NAN
*
|
365
|
|
3
|
FX
|
371
|
NICK
|
321
|
|
4
|
CMDY
|
370
|
TBSC
|
286
|
|
5
|
MTV
|
349
|
TNT
|
242
|
|
6
|
TNT
|
321
|
MTV
|
230
|
|
7
|
NAN
|
310
|
USA
|
226
|
|
8
|
LIF
|
273
|
FX
|
218
|
|
9
|
DISC
|
260
|
CMDY
|
214
|
|
10
|
AEN
|
250
|
ESPN
|
200
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Real World XX
|
MTV
|
1455
|
|
2
|
Top Chef
|
BRAV
|
1307
|
|
3
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
1302
|
|
4
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1300
|
|
5
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
1224
|
|
6
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1157
|
|
7
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1154
|
|
8
|
House of Payne
|
TBSC
|
1133
|
|
9
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1105
|
|
10
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1099
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
1317
|
NAN
*
|
657
|
|
2
|
TBSC
|
1035
|
ADSM*
|
655
|
|
3
|
TNT
|
812
|
TNT
|
611
|
|
4
|
FX
|
722
|
USA
|
558
|
|
5
|
LIF
|
637
|
NICK
|
533
|
|
6
|
DISC
|
604
|
TBSC
|
520
|
|
7
|
AEN
|
597
|
FX
|
397
|
|
8
|
HIST
|
589
|
LIF
|
391
|
|
9
|
NAN
|
578
|
ESPN
|
379
|
|
10
|
SPK
|
551
|
AEN
|
348
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Top Chef
|
BRAV
|
2556
|
|
2
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2490
|
|
3
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2379
|
|
4
|
Army Wives
|
LIF
|
2302
|
|
5
|
Sprint Cup Racng/Michigan
|
TNT
|
2162
|
|
6
|
House of Payne
|
TBSC
|
2015
|
|
7
|
Real World XX
|
MTV
|
1727
|
|
8
|
Ice Road Truckers
|
HIST
|
1724
|
|
9
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1696
|
|
10
|
House of Payne
|
TBSC
|
1684
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending June 15 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
1365
|
TNT
|
647
|
|
2
|
TBSC
|
963
|
USA
|
581
|
|
3
|
TNT
|
896
|
NAN
*
|
527
|
|
4
|
HIST
|
676
|
TBSC
|
456
|
|
5
|
FX
|
648
|
NICK
|
439
|
|
6
|
AEN
|
632
|
ADSM*
|
395
|
|
7
|
LIF
|
632
|
LIF
|
392
|
|
8
|
DISC
|
617
|
HIST
|
369
|
|
9
|
SCIF
|
601
|
ESPN
|
363
|
|
10
|
SPK
|
569
|
AEN
|
362
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending June 15 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Top Chef
|
BRAV
|
2521
|
|
2
|
Sprint Cup Racng/Michigan
|
TNT
|
2497
|
|
3
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2406
|
|
4
|
Army Wives
|
LIF
|
2400
|
|
5
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2344
|
|
6
|
In Plain Sight
|
USA
|
1887
|
|
7
|
Ice Road Truckers
|
HIST
|
1869
|
|
8
|
House of Payne
|
TBSC
|
1822
|
|
9
|
Deadliest Catch
|
DISC
|
1766
|
|
10
|
Law & Order: CI (orig)
|
USA
|
1644
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
