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Astro7x
Aug 4, 2004
Thinks It's All Real

Sydney Bottocks posted:

USA is a cable network owned by NBC. Fox is a broadcast network owned by Disney now. The bar for bad ratings is much lower on cable than the bar for bad ratings on broadcast TV. I don't know why this has to keep being pointed out every time someone gets all in their feelings when someone says WWE's ratings are declining and that it's potentially bad news when their run on Fox starts.

Two things that people always neglect to mention is....

1) Smackdown will air on Friday, not Tuesday. The bar for ratings on Friday is much much lower than on Monday thru Thursday.
2) While the contract is for 1 BILLION DOLLARS and seems insane, it's not. That's 3.8 Million for 2 hours of original programming 52 weeks out of the year. They wouldn't be able to develop 104 hours of original dramas or comedies to fill it's time slot for that price, not to mention the potential of needing to develop multiple shows that could fail and need to be replaced with new shows mid season.

Current Fox Friday lineup is

Last Man Standing (6.15 Rating)
The Cool Kids (4.9)
Hell's Kitchen (2.66)

I have no idea how much Last Man Standing costs to make, but Smackdown only costs them $950,000 per half hour. Tim Allen's salary per episode for LMS in 2016 was $235,000 alone, and that only goes up each year as the series gets more popular.

On average, Fox spends about $2 million per 1 hour of scripted programming, and that is not for year round programming for ratings that tank when it's a rerun

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Orange Carlisle
Jul 14, 2007

Sydney Bottocks posted:

No offense but it's a bit rich to storm in here and tell people you're sitting on a blockbuster news story from a confidential source that would surely spell the end of WWE if word got out about just how deep they are with the KSA, and then when people provide safe ways to help said source get said word out to the mainstream press, you tell them to "calm down".

I don't normally get involved in rovert arguments but he didn't really do any of that - just simply hinted that there might possibly be deeper things going on which I'm sure we all figured there was anyway being that a 10 year hundred million dollar deal usually isn't just a handshake

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

I'm a real journalist (I got business cards and everything. Also, a desk.) but unless this is about an underground fashion ring or leads to a regional theater production I can't help.

Orange Carlisle
Jul 14, 2007

Aphrodite posted:

I'm a real journalist (I got business cards and everything. Also, a desk.) but unless this is about an underground fashion ring or leads to a regional theater production I can't help.

How dare you storm in here and call yourself a journalist without burning this story down

I want to know about the WWE backstage underground fashion ring and how Naomi fits all those blinky lights into her clothes and shoes

rovert
Jun 10, 2013
Speaking of business in the Middle East

https://twitter.com/AriyaDaivariWWE/status/1050857446644830208

Raskolnikov38
Mar 3, 2007

We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

achillesforever6 posted:

Man why do I still have my subscription, honestly surprised my DSA chapter hasn't called for a BDSesque policy towards KSA which would probably make me cancel

baron corbin's got an ad running in the rotation that can help you cancel!

DarkstarIV
Apr 6, 2010

OFFICIAL RACIST
I keep forgetting Aliyah exists, but then I remember she has the honor of being on the traveling house show group this weekend for the NXT women. Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, Candice LaRae, Lacey Evans, Aliyah, and Reina Gonzalez are all of the women on the road this weekend. In fact, all of the NXT champions are in general.

Still though, I think this is the first or second time Aliyah has ever managed to escape the Florida loop. Which is amazing to me since she's really loving bad in the ring.

TV Zombie
Sep 6, 2011

Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

Why is there such a fetishization/admiration of the attitude era? Let that poo poo go, cot damnit.

The Croc
Dec 19, 2004

A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird!

OH YEAH!



TV Zombie posted:

Why is there such a fetishization/admiration of the attitude era? Let that poo poo go, cot damnit.

Because most people were probably young when it was going on so it gets the rose tinted nostalgia filter. Also history as always whittles it down to the gems and all the poo poo that went on is forgotten.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Sydney Bottocks posted:


I did a little light reading after my last post and it basically sounds like that's the case, all the Fox studios and IP are now under the Disney umbrella while the actual Fox Broadcasting wing isn't (because FCC regulations prohibit them from owning two broadcast networks at the same time, in this case Fox and ABC).

Yeah, I think that was basically it. FOX conflicts with ABC, FS1 conflicts with ESPN, and FNC conflicts with... uh... who wants Fox News anyway? So Disney didn't want the hassle or couldn't have gotten it through so Murdoch's company still owns those.

Ironically I think it throws Fox Network back to its roots as "the 4th network" relying on outside stuff, which I believe is how they started.

Gumball Gumption
Jan 7, 2012

STAC Goat posted:

Yeah, I think that was basically it. FOX conflicts with ABC, FS1 conflicts with ESPN, and FNC conflicts with... uh... who wants Fox News anyway? So Disney didn't want the hassle or couldn't have gotten it through so Murdoch's company still owns those.

Ironically I think it throws Fox Network back to its roots as "the 4th network" relying on outside stuff, which I believe is how they started.

Yeah but this time instead of being a young urbane network they're trying to become a niche for people who want shows like Last Man Standing and WWE.

rovert
Jun 10, 2013

DarkstarIV posted:

I keep forgetting Aliyah exists, but then I remember she has the honor of being on the traveling house show group this weekend for the NXT women. Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, Candice LaRae, Lacey Evans, Aliyah, and Reina Gonzalez are all of the women on the road this weekend. In fact, all of the NXT champions are in general.

Still though, I think this is the first or second time Aliyah has ever managed to escape the Florida loop. Which is amazing to me since she's really loving bad in the ring.

Aliyah's recent matches have been pretty decent. Always thought she had a star quality. Rooting for her. Hope she follows Lio Rush's lead.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

Mr. Carlisle posted:

How dare you storm in here and call yourself a journalist without burning this story down

I want to know about the WWE backstage underground fashion ring and how Naomi fits all those blinky lights into her clothes and shoes

Buddy I ain't about to be lured into a locker room and made to feel the glow.

OctoberCountry
Oct 9, 2012
Did anyone ever find out if the claim that the female wrestlers got paid for the first Saudi show was true or not?

rovert
Jun 10, 2013

OctoberCountry posted:

Did anyone ever find out if the claim that the female wrestlers got paid for the first Saudi show was true or not?

I should ask about that. IF they did I think the deal was they did but under the strictest confidence, they wouldn't disclose it.

Gonz
Dec 22, 2009

"Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1050855848308822017

Gonz
Dec 22, 2009

"Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"
Braun was there and Khashoggi got those hands.

DoctorGonzo
Jul 25, 2016

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
so now that the wwe isnt only awful tv but now they are also supporting a murderous regime why do you still watch?

at least when bernie run grand prix in apartheid southafrica they actually cancelled some races and bernie is 10000 more the businessguy that mcmahon will ever be

Rick
Feb 23, 2004
When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Astro7x posted:

Two things that people always neglect to mention is....

1) Smackdown will air on Friday, not Tuesday. The bar for ratings on Friday is much much lower than on Monday thru Thursday.
2) While the contract is for 1 BILLION DOLLARS and seems insane, it's not. That's 3.8 Million for 2 hours of original programming 52 weeks out of the year. They wouldn't be able to develop 104 hours of original dramas or comedies to fill it's time slot for that price, not to mention the potential of needing to develop multiple shows that could fail and need to be replaced with new shows mid season.

Current Fox Friday lineup is

Last Man Standing (6.15 Rating)
The Cool Kids (4.9)
Hell's Kitchen (2.66)

I have no idea how much Last Man Standing costs to make, but Smackdown only costs them $950,000 per half hour. Tim Allen's salary per episode for LMS in 2016 was $235,000 alone, and that only goes up each year as the series gets more popular.

On average, Fox spends about $2 million per 1 hour of scripted programming, and that is not for year round programming for ratings that tank when it's a rerun



It is true that any show that gets on Friday is given a huge amount of rope when it comes to total ratings. But part of getting to keep that Friday slot is holding that number fairly steady. They have tried and given up on plenty of things to go with the Various Gordon Ramsey Vehicles.

I'm a little more optimistic than some in this thread over the short term but if they fail I won't be surprised, either.

TheKingslayer
Sep 3, 2008


That is so beyond bleak. Christ.

rovert
Jun 10, 2013
Go oft

https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1050874526588796928

Germansimp
May 28, 2013



rovert posted:

Aliyah's recent matches have been pretty decent. Always thought she had a star quality. Rooting for her. Hope she follows Lio Rush's lead.

No-sell a powerbomb through a table off a ladder? I doubt she could pull that off.

Edit: Coming up with an 'Apple Watch' theory would at least give Turkey a reason how they got the evidence rather than wire-tapping an embassy or similar.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

I really do wonder how much longer WWE can coast by on the fact that nobody "legit" takes them in any way seriously. They're making billions exploiting their employees and are now connected on the world stage and have direct links to the loving President of the United States, but it still seems like actual reporters/investigators just kind of dismiss the idea of looking into them beyond human interest stories since pro-wrestling is so low rent.

Gonzo McFee posted:

Rovert shouldn't back down on this. He should keep up his journalism, even if it lands him the same fate as this actual journalist. Especially, even.

Dude. The guy was tortured, murdered and dismembered, even as an obvious joke this is a bit much.

SatoshiMiwa
May 6, 2007


Astro7x posted:

Two things that people always neglect to mention is....

1) Smackdown will air on Friday, not Tuesday. The bar for ratings on Friday is much much lower than on Monday thru Thursday.
2) While the contract is for 1 BILLION DOLLARS and seems insane, it's not. That's 3.8 Million for 2 hours of original programming 52 weeks out of the year. They wouldn't be able to develop 104 hours of original dramas or comedies to fill it's time slot for that price, not to mention the potential of needing to develop multiple shows that could fail and need to be replaced with new shows mid season.

Current Fox Friday lineup is

Last Man Standing (6.15 Rating)
The Cool Kids (4.9)
Hell's Kitchen (2.66)

I have no idea how much Last Man Standing costs to make, but Smackdown only costs them $950,000 per half hour. Tim Allen's salary per episode for LMS in 2016 was $235,000 alone, and that only goes up each year as the series gets more popular.

On average, Fox spends about $2 million per 1 hour of scripted programming, and that is not for year round programming for ratings that tank when it's a rerun



The logic behind this is why NBC gave the 10 PM slot to Jay Leno and welp that didn't work out. Sure the programming not cost as much as scripted/reality but if the ratings drop and can't deliver good ratings lead in for Local News the show will be terfed even if it's cheaper than any other programming

MJeff
Jun 2, 2011

THE LIAR

I really hope those wrestlers are doing some soul-searching right now.

How much of Vince's poo poo are they willing to take and be party to for a few years of transient celebrity?

Marquis de Pyro
Sep 25, 2006

Evil Prevails

achillesforever6 posted:

Man why do I still have my subscription, honestly surprised my DSA chapter hasn't called for a BDSesque policy towards KSA which would probably make me cancel

Why would they? There are dozens of nightmarish murdering dictatorships that don't have a BDSesque policy towards them by any major group. There must be "something" special about Israel

Accident Underwater
Oct 21, 2005

You look like a star!

Germansimp posted:

No-sell a powerbomb through a table off a ladder? I doubt she could pull that off.

Edit: Coming up with an 'Apple Watch' theory would at least give Turkey a reason how they got the evidence rather than wire-tapping an embassy or similar.

Lio did a back rake this week, he's good

sexpig by night
Sep 8, 2011

by Azathoth

VJeff posted:

I really hope those wrestlers are doing some soul-searching right now.

How much of Vince's poo poo are they willing to take and be party to for a few years of transient celebrity?

yea it feels like we make a lot of jokes about wrestlers being a part of a lovely brand like WWE acts like but this is probably something that should be a genuine line. Like at least before with doing a Saudi show the company line was 'look MBS is promising to be a reformer and we're trying to help open things up between our countries with entertainment' but...I mean it was bullshit before but this is just insane levels of 'this guy's an evil piece of poo poo'.

Orange Carlisle
Jul 14, 2007

VJeff posted:

I really hope those wrestlers are doing some soul-searching right now.

How much of Vince's poo poo are they willing to take and be party to for a few years of transient celebrity?

sexpig by night posted:

yea it feels like we make a lot of jokes about wrestlers being a part of a lovely brand like WWE acts like but this is probably something that should be a genuine line. Like at least before with doing a Saudi show the company line was 'look MBS is promising to be a reformer and we're trying to help open things up between our countries with entertainment' but...I mean it was bullshit before but this is just insane levels of 'this guy's an evil piece of poo poo'.

It's easy for us to sit back and say things like that though given that we're not wrestlers and WWE is the only company that will pay most of that roster enough to make a living doing what they do. Most of them just aren't good enough to be an AJ Styles on the indies and make the money they are making.

They have no control over what gross poo poo their employers get into and walking away does sound like a thing to do when you don't have to explain to your family you quit your job over a saudi journalist. I'm sure they are very uncomfortable with all of it and aren't supporting it just by staying employed. Contracts and non competes are also a thing.

It's complicated and the wrestlers put up with enough independent contractor poo poo without having to also deal with WWE's political troubles because they make bad business decisions - it's a shame. I'm sure they just want to entertain people and make enough money to retired before they are too broken to do it anymore.

Orange Carlisle fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Oct 12, 2018

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Jerusalem posted:

I really do wonder how much longer WWE can coast by on the fact that nobody "legit" takes them in any way seriously. They're making billions exploiting their employees and are now connected on the world stage and have direct links to the loving President of the United States, but it still seems like actual reporters/investigators just kind of dismiss the idea of looking into them beyond human interest stories since pro-wrestling is so low rent.
I think its just like a cost thing. What WWE does is terrible but the direct victims of it count in the hundreds at most and they're all adults making pretty bad choices. So like there's probably a fair number of reporters, politicians, or lawyers who have some sense of what WWE is doing and some desire to stop them and make them see justice. But there's probably also bigger, more pressing concerns for their time and resources.

This Saudi Arabia thing is different as its them partnering up with someone who does way, WAY more evil but its still KSA who are the problem. So it would take one reporter or politician or lawyer who thought that WWE was just worth it or could help their career or something. Or for the WWE audience to give a poo poo and boycott. Or for someone else to guilt them into giving a poo poo with a BDS type mass boycott against anything Saudi.

Or, in maybe the most realistic and unrealistic option for the WWE wrestlers to feel personally offended/upset/conflicted/endangered enough to refuse to go to Saudi Arabia and accidently start a public labor dispute.

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Oct 12, 2018

WrasslorMonkey
Mar 5, 2012


Horrifying. Incidentally, didn't Melania suggest rape victims also have evidence like this before accusing someone? Wonder if this is good enough for the Trump administration.

sexpig by night
Sep 8, 2011

by Azathoth

WrasslorMonkey posted:

Horrifying. Incidentally, didn't Melania suggest rape victims also have evidence like this before accusing someone? Wonder if this is good enough for the Trump administration.

"The state department believes SOMEONE hacked him to bits, but are unsure it was the KSA..."

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

The FBI are gonna investigate this fully, but they only have an hour to do so and they're not allowed to talk to anybody involved in the case, and nobody is allowed to see their finished report.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

The CIA is planning a powerpoint presentation to show them how to be more subtle about it.

Sydney Bottocks
Oct 15, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 61 days!

Jerusalem posted:

The FBI are gonna investigate this fully, but they only have an hour to do so and they're not allowed to talk to anybody involved in the case, and nobody is allowed to see their finished report.

Vince will go on record as being "very concerned".

Prokhor Zakharov
Dec 31, 2008

This is me as I make another great post


Good luck with your depression!
Vince will have Dolph, Braun, and Drew come out and say that they're the ones who killed the journalist and framed the good, noble, and very very rich Saudis. Roman comes out and spears them to a huge pop. He's over.

He's finally over.

SatoshiMiwa
May 6, 2007


Looking forward to the winner gets to leave Saudi Arabia battle royal

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Sydney Bottocks posted:

Vince will go on record as being "very concerned".

"It's a very scary time to be a (hit)man right now."

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Sydney Bottocks posted:

Vince will go on record as being "very concerned".

I'd expect more "Stand Up For WWE II".

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Prokhor Zakharov
Dec 31, 2008

This is me as I make another great post


Good luck with your depression!
Can anyone verify the whereabouts of Bret "The Hitman" Hart at the time of the assassination?

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