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Mat slam for Pax's
'Real Pro Wrestling'
No prancing dames. No goofy outfits. No wonder.
By Toni Fitzgerald
Leave it to the people at Pax, the wholesome
family network, to take the fun out of wrestling.
With the continued popularity of the WWE on UPN and Spike and
the increasing media interest in wrestling during the past two Olympic
Summer Games, it seemed like a great time for the launch of "Real Pro
Wrestling," a new wrestling league that promised half-nelsons in lieu
of half-naked women. In other words, real wrestling of the sort we saw in
high school, or Greco-Roman, versus the fake monkeyshines we see on
television.
But it’s the half-naked women who draw most of the fans to
pro wrestling. Without them, Pax’s four-week-old "Real Pro
Wrestling" on Sunday afternoons has flattened after a promising
start.
The much-hyped debut of the league on March 27 at 4 p.m.
attracted an impressive 0.2 household rating, drawing an average of 320,000
total viewers.
But the next week that dipped to a 0.1 average and 140,000. The
past two episodes have also hovered at a 0.1, averaging 171,000 total
viewers on April 10 and a slightly better 204,000 April 17.
It’s the massive tune-out after episode one, though, that’s
more telling. The 0.1 average is exactly what the now-defunct WUSA, the
women’s soccer league, pulled two years ago on Pax before its demise.
By comparison, UPN’s WWE averaged a 3.3 household rating last week, 0.1
off of its 3.4 season average.
In primetime, Pax averages a 0.4 rating and about 620,000
total viewers.
"Real Pro Wrestling" pits teams with
different weight classes of wrestlers against each other in Greco-Roman
competition. But without more viewer interest, "Real Pro
Wrestling" may fade away like similar secondary fringe sports leagues
of the past, such as the XFL or team tennis.
The league’s promoters did the best they could. They recruited
Olympic wrestling gold medalist Rulon Gardner as a commentator, he
being the poster boy for the 2000 Sydney Olympics after he upset heavily
favored Russian Alexandre Kareline.
The league smartly advertised its TV debut at high school
state wrestling tournaments across the country, trying to build a
following among the sport’s most rabid purist fans.
But ultimately viewers may be too fond of wrestling as
entertainment rather than sport. Very few WWE fans could probably tell you what constitutes
a takedown in Greco-Roman wrestling, beyond hitting your opponent on the
back with a chair.
If "Real Pro Wrestling," which also reruns
regionally on FSN on weekdays, does survive for a second
season, Pax should consider playing up the randier aspects of the league,
such as the shirtless competitors. Then perhaps it could at least gain a
following among women.
In other sports ratings, the NBA finished out its regular
season with a disappointing across-the-board decline in ratings.
ABC’s average for 18 games fell slightly versus last season to a
2.3 household average, but TNT and ESPN were both down 7 percent, to a 1.3
and 1.2 average respectively.
That does not bode well for the Lakers-less NBA playoffs,
which began over the weekend.
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NETWORK SPORTS
Ranked
on Households
Week Ending April 17 |
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Episode |
Households |
Persons 2+ |
|
US Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
(000) |
|
1 |
FOX NASCAR
NEXTEL CUP |
FOX |
SAMSUNG
RADIO
SHACK 500 |
5.7 |
15 |
6256 |
8676 |
|
2 |
WWE SMACKDOWN! |
UPN |
|
3.3 |
5 |
3652 |
5169 |
|
3 |
NBA ON ABC
SUN 2 |
ABC |
IND AT MIAMI/
DALLS AT LA |
2.5 |
6 |
2781 |
3351 |
|
4 |
MCI HERITAGE - SUN(S)- 4/17 |
CBS |
|
2.2 |
5 |
2373 |
2998 |
|
5 |
FOX NASCAR
BUSCH SERIES |
FOX |
O'REILLY 300 |
2.1 |
6 |
2268 |
2878 |
|
6 |
NBA ON ABC
SUN 1 |
ABC |
CLEVE. AT
DETROIT |
1.8 |
5 |
1955 |
2407 |
|
7 |
MCI HERITAGE - SAT(S)-04/16 |
CBS |
|
1.8 |
5 |
2007 |
2474 |
|
8 |
MARSHALL'S
US FIG SKTG
CH(S)-4/16 |
ABC |
|
1.3 |
4 |
1382 |
1729 |
|
9 |
NBC SPORTS
SPECIAL 4/17(S) |
NBC |
PRO BULL
RIDING |
1.2 |
3 |
1367 |
1642 |
|
10 |
NBC SPORTS
SPEC. 4/16(S) |
NBC |
SKATING
RAY CHARLES
TRIBUTE |
0.9 |
3 |
1028 |
1193 |
|
11 |
NBC ARENA
FOOTBALL |
NBC |
CO AT CHI/
LAS VEGAS
AT PHIL |
0.6 |
2 |
697 |
690 |
|
12 |
CBS AUTO
RACING:AMR
LEMNS(S)-04/17 |
CBS |
ATL GRAND
PRIX |
0.5 |
2 |
585 |
688 |
|
13 |
REAL PRO
WRESTLING |
PAX |
|
0.1 |
0 |
151 |
204 |
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Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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April 26, 2005
©
2005
Media Life
- Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer
for Media Life.
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