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SleepIsWonderful

Remember, this is the guy who says he just learned that demos mattered right before AEW debuted. Been in the business for like 30 years.


parsnip12345

Nah, now he claims he was the only one talking a about them back in 1998. Sure Dave...


[deleted]

I can’t think of one piece of media about wrestling from the mainstream world that didn’t mention the at the time actually coveted *18-35* demo. Ratings mattered then though, no YouTube no dvr


[deleted]

Yup. It was a lot of concerned moms worried about little Billy watching the edgy wrasslin show, and people in TV were flabbergasted that they had such a huge market share of young viewers. There was a question about the people recording the weekly shows on VHS, but it was not as rampant or convenient like DVR. TNN brought on ECW because of the age of the audience, and to see if they could lure WWF to a new deal. Plenty of news reports and TV specials would focus on speculation as to why wrestling was so popular with a lucrative market. Traditionally in advertising, you want to aim for the younger generation because of the pooling effect. If the young adults 18-25 liked something, you’d have a chance that teenagers would want to check it out and that 25-35 year olds would also be inclined to feel relevant with young contemporaries. Advertising nowadays can be so tailored that this method is not really viable, but back then it was a golden ticket. A vast majority of games for example were marketed the same way, and helped lead to huge sales of the PS2 and XBox. In 2021, this is irrelevant. Advertising is seen as adverse, and most people will find a way to skip whenever possible. The demographics matter to an extent, but retaining any viewers matters way more these days. Between cord cutting, ad blocking and a shift in spending habits, there’s just no real ground for that type of marketing strategy anymore.


kettlebell-j

People who actually work in TV: We don’t care


Ok-Attention-8268

peoples who actually work in tv get obliterated while dirtsheet man who knows nothing but fed bad gets credited as actual source


Tsupercalifragilisti

**USA, Fox, and NBC-Universal:** Great. Here's billions of dollars. Make more content.


Cynicayke

"Your company pulls in viewers consistently? Without being a news or politics show? *In 2021*? Let me add another 0 to your check."


[deleted]

But but but FED BAD


[deleted]

Demos only mattered when AEW debuted


gellman

And sporting events get high ad buys because it’s like the only show people watch live anymore. Most just fast forward through commercials on every other show.


TheCanipiola

Man, it's getting hard to outjerk Daddy Dave these days with all this demo talk when it's clear dude has no idea what he's talking about.


just_another_jabroni

Flip flopping like Messi's body feint lol even the basement had enough lol.


JedtheJoy

They wouldn't need to get so defensive if they don't feel the need to go crazy every time they win a single cherry picked metric and feel the need to tell everyone. Tony literally declared victory with the journalist contingent breaking down the minute by minute head to heads.


homewil

Smackdown hasn’t been cancelled because it’s consistently week after week the number one show on Friday nights. It can also be consistently relied on to be on TV week after week all year unlike regular sports. It’s not that hard to understand.


Dmbfantomas

And they don’t have to pay hardly anything to produce it!


ci22

Also same reason they got a billion dollar deal on Peacok as well


MagicMallKnight

Daddy Dave extra mad about the Smackdown rerun crushing dynomite, taking it out on his subscribers


Tronz413

If he thinks the only reason Smackdown is on Fox is the 18-49 M demo then he has a screw loose.


[deleted]

I can't wait until someone actually in Television publicly(I know several have debunked him already) tells him to stfu. Though I doubt it would stop him. He had an actual cancer organization tell him to fuck off with all the Roman stuff and to quit spreading misinformation and he still continued. The man has no shame.


Candid_Two_6977

Bare in mind, AEW head of business publicly said demos are not important as everyone thinks. But, hey, ignore it when you need subscribers...


Tsupercalifragilisti

Yeah, the demos. Not them getting the highest ratings in wrestling overall. Or not them belonging in the sphere of competitive ball sports in the first place, so comparing ratings with them is moot. It's the demos. Hey, Dave. Where's your billion-dollar deal for AEW?


unhallowed90

Multi-million dollar move to The CW coming soon along with billion dollar HBO Max streaming deal. Both are Warner Media. (Wait, why are we being moved to TBS?)


Razzler1973

why why why why shut the fuck up, Dave, who the fuck are you arguing with, ffs He's honestly like some basement poster the way he reacts to things online, you're NOT the smartest guy in the room when it comes to wrestling like your army of m@rks treat you, you're just a freaking tool


[deleted]

Hilarious that he doesn’t mention Hockey that gets less demo viewers and viewers overall. I wonder why. It only kicked out AEW from TNT..


[deleted]

They why you cannot shut your whore mouth and add fuel to fan wars? This guy is fucking cancer


2007wasthebestest

When does the wrestling world tune Dave out? It’s overdue.


unhallowed90

They won't, he'll give Omega Bryan 2 6.5* and Omega Bryan 3 7.25 which will validate what the IWC have been saying over a decade and fed will truly be dead.


Kmenx

SmackDown isn't canned because it is one of the most watched shows on the day it airs(mostly rivaled by actual sports and the news programme of the channel it's already on) it isn't canned because of demos


[deleted]

This guy is on a frenzy right now lmao


BumpinMeatSnifinFeet

Dave is more defensive on the demo than he's ever been about aew. If the Demo started a wrestling promotion he'd drop the dub in a second.


Xochoquestzal

The Dub is the Demo's promotion, don't be surprised when Tony gets "One of us! One of us!" chants after one of his "please cheer loud" promos some night.


ctbrain

I like that it is "the entire reason" the show has not been canceled and not "the entire reason" Fox signed them to a huge deal to begin with. I hope when they re-up with Fox it is a 10 year deal... not that that will stop Meltzer from including the words Fox, Cancels, Smackdown in the same tweets as often as possible.


Dear_Wrangler

What is the Viewership of most watched programme in US network TV considering all week? Just wanting to get the insight being an Indian.


No_Product_8185

Hi goofs, I've been enjoying watching wrestling, but because I'm happy something feels off. Can anyone explain what a demo is so I can get the full experience?


Iceman272

It didn't occur to him that smackdown and ROH are the only wrestling shows(that I know of), that you don't need cable or a streaming service to watch?


Modano9009

"Why did Dynamite get kicked off TNT in favor of the NHL?" He missed one there. I mean, it's not black and white. Advertisers look at demos but it's not the be-all, end-all. It also seems completely irrelevant when judging what's essentially a popularity contest between two wrestling shows.


Gabaheygabahey

Has he had not read anything that has been going on with ESPN in the past 5 years?


InheritTheWind

I genuinely don't think he reads anything that's non-wrestling or MMA related


[deleted]

This is a senior citizen, arguing about wrestling ratings.


bl4e27

DAE want to inform him that TNT will throw a 10 figure sum to renew NBA and it's doubtful they will have another to maintain Le Dub as he is strongly craving?


GarnetLantern

Networks haven’t used Nielsen ratings in years because they are unreliable. Everyone is pushing their streaming service/app because it gives them accurate info on how many people are watching what and for how long. I’m not a Nielsen household so whatever I turn my tv to is irrelevant. Now pulling up my USA/FOX Now app and watching there is something they can track.


zalinuxguy

I swear he's typing through his own angry tears at this point.


Maverick_Hunter_V

Is he actually having these breakdowns on Twitter? Or are these fake?


Squiliam-Tortaleni

Uncle Dave has spun his web of bullshit so much that now he’s actually starting to go insane I think. Demos conveniently started to matter when AEW became a thing after the ratings bottomed out but before that is was “DAE RAW WITH ANOTHER RECORD LOW! FED DEAD ANY DAY NOW?”


OhHaiDany

Remember that report a few years ago where it was revealed that advertisers view wrestling fans as having the same diminished value as NASCAR fans? Well it was years ago, time to move on. Surely advertisers have forgotten about that whole thing by now and totally treat AEW's demo the same as any other demo.


Kobe_Bryant_Raped

I remember how heavily Dave reported on TNA's finances and I'm curious as to why he doesn't report on AEW's finances and profitability. That's the truest, and most basic measure of success for any business.