07.11.2010, 19:37
Zitat:Original von Sawyer
Und wieder gibt es kurze Nachrichten zu Eric Bischoff. Jener wurde vor kurzem auf Facebook gefragt, was er von der ganzen Nexus-Storyline halten würde. Seine Antwort: "Boring as hell".
hab mir grad 'ne sehr geile Kolumne des PWI dazu gelesen.. er meinte auch "trocknende Farbe > Nexus".. und ganz ehrlich.. wie dumm kann man sein. Ist der Typ nicht bei TNA, um deren Produkt nach oben zu bringen?? und geht das nur mit shoots gegen den großen Riesen WWE?? meine Fresse.. für mich die Bestätigung, das TNA gar NIX gutes hat, das man hypen kann.. so siehts zumindest aus.. ich mein, statt den eigenen PPV zu hypen und Buys zu ziehen.. kommt immer nur so ein Scheiß. X(
hier noch die Kolumne:
Zitat:Note: This wasn't intended to be a column but it just sort of flowed out as more and more germane points came to me. My goal here was to point out some indisputable facts and hope that maybe TNA would address them. I don't expect it to change anything but I must admit that it felt good to write this piece, as now I can at least say I tried to help fix a very obvious problem or two.
Yesterday I mentioned that on his Facebook page Eric Bischoff referred to the Nexus push in WWE as "Boring as hell". I forgot to mention that he also wrote this gem: "Paint drying > Nexus". This has led to people on his page responding with their opinions on the subject and he now has a whole thread there on the subject, with some agreeing with him while others are calling him names.
What jumped out to me about the situation was that instead of pushing and promoting TNA, the company that he gets paid very well to work for and promised to take to the next level when he joined them earlier this year, he is talking about WWE instead. Under normal circumstances it annoys me to see TNA people take shots at WWE as it always comes across as either penis envy or trying to get a rub from getting in a scrap with the top dog.
It's even worse this weekend however as TNA has a PPV tonight (which we will have full coverage on tonight beginning at 8 p.m.) and I would think his time and energy could be better spent helping promote the company and draw it money rather than nipping at the heels of the biggest wrestling company in the world. Even if you are someone who likes seeing the number twos of the world take shots at the top dogs, there is a time and place for everything and this weekend his time should be spent getting people to buy Turning Point not getting agitated and calling him a "douche", as someone did on his Facebook page. Somehow, I don't see the person that called Bischoff a "douche" spending money to see him on PPV tonight.
While I appreciate that Bischoff takes the time to interact with fans, it still seems kind of ass backwards to me. I don't get why he would waste his time ripping on WWE when he should be spending it improving his own product, especially given the way ratings have dropped since he has become the face of Immortal instead of the TNA Champion, as evidenced by the chart below.
Impact
10/7/2010 Live Show 1.32 1,732,000
10/14/2010 1.4 1,895,000
10/21/2010 1.16 1,509,000
10/28/2010 1.13 1,484,000
11/4/2010 1.15 1,412,000
Obviously, TNA did a good number the week before Bound for Glory. Interest was high in who "they" would be. The company had seen its ratings on an upswing leading up to their 10/13 PPV.
To further that point, the 10/14 edition of Impact opened with a 1.5 quarter hour. People obviously were curious to see the follow up from Bound For Glory and see where TNA was going to go with the Jeff Hardy heel turn. The second quarter hour that evening did a 1.5 as well. Then, the numbers slid to the point where the broadcast did a 1.4 rating overall. The next week, Impact was down to a 1.16, then a 1.13, then a 1.15.
There are some very obvious conclusions to be made here.
Eric Bischoff and TNA drew a large, curious audience for the first half hour on 10/14 and lost them as the show went on. More than 22% of them have not been back since. It would stand to reason that that group did not like what they saw when they gave a chance and thus will probably not be purchasing tonight's PPV.
Not so coincidentally, Bischoff has been the focal point of Immortal since Bound For Glory, not Jeff Hardy. Hardy talks for a minute or two, Bischoff dominates entire quarter hours. He can say what he wants about Nexus being boring but at least they are led by an actual worker and not a 55 year old non-wrestler. If Bischoff's many appearances on Impact since 10/14 had sustained the jump in ratings of the first half hour of the 10/14 show he could point to it being the correct move. He can not do that however. Since he became a focal point of the show, the numbers have dropped and worse than that people that have given TNA a chance have already tuned out. There is no way he can spin that as a positive to anyone who can spell IQ, let alone actually have one.
This isn't the first time that he has lost new viewers for TNA either.
On Monday January 4, 2010 Impact did a live three-hour broadcast to kick off the Hulk Hogan-Eric Bischoff era. It garnered the company's largest audience in their history with the unopposed hour at 8 p.m. drawing a 1.69 rating. Given the promotion
of big change in the company, it set the high water mark in TNA history. Once again, after getting people to give TNA a chance, many didn't like what they saw in the new regime (and I would argue the amount of face time that they received) and they tuned out. There is a common thread there.
Eric Bischoff is fond of pointing to numbers and saying that they don't lie. That isn't always the case as most figures can be misconstrued and misinterpreted at times but sometimes, the numbers are dead on. This is one of those times. Any attempt to spin them otherwise is simply an exercising in confusing the issue because one can't change the facts.
Since January, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan have added a lot of incremental cost to the TNA product. I have seen no evidence that they have even managed to cover their fees, let alone bring in more revenue to the company. It reminds me of an old baseball story.
Ralph Kiner led the league in home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates one year and his contract came due. He went into the owner's office and asked him for a raise.
The owner said, "Where did we finish last year Ralph".
"Last," Kiner said.
"We can do that without you," was the owner's reply as he decided that Kiner would not be getting a raise.
Eric Bischoff is the Ralph Kiner of TNA right now. In fact, he's worse because he sold TNA management on a concept, a vision for the company, a promise to take it to the next level. He added a lot of cost to the company's bottom line that he argued would be more than made up when the product took off. In fact, the opposite has happened on his watch and the numbers that he always likes to cite back that up unequivocally.
Given the way that his promises have not been kept, it would seem pretty obvious to me that he should be focusing his time and energy on getting those fans that have given TNA a try a few times this year a reason to come back. He owes it to Dixie Carter and the rest of the folks who work so hard at TNA and fight a difficult battle in tempestuous times.
He may not be a fan of Nexus and that is his right. I won't even get into pointing out the irony that WWE is trying to push young talent to help the company in the future while Bischoff is putting himself, as he nears Social Security age, as the lead guy of a group that the TNA champion should be fronting because I think that irony is already pretty obvious to anyone that cares to look at the situation.
What I will point out is this. Eric Bischoff sold a vision to Dixie Carter that hasn't even come close to coming to delivering. It's time that he start spending his energy trying to make the TNA product better and taking the company to the new heights that he said he would, and stop wasting it in other silly areas.
If he chooses to acknowledge this at all, Bischoff may employ a favorite tactic of his and mock this column as being written by someone that doesn't understand how things work. If he does, only the most simple of minds will be fooled because the numbers bear this out Eric: Your kind of "controversy" is doing anything but "creating cash". You owe TNA and it is time you fulfill your end of the deal.
By Dave Scherer on 2010-11-07 10:26:04