WWE Ratings Drop Gets Negative Mainstream Coverage

WWE’s drop in audience compared to last year has received coverage from Variety, who posted an article today ahead of WWE’s second quarter financials announcements on Thursday. They mentioned that when WWE revealed their first quarter financials during a conference call earlier this year, they blamed the ratings drop in the first three months of 2019 on “superstar absences” and said that everyone who was missing was back for the second quarter. However, the audience still went down. The article questions how Vince will explain the drop this time.

It reads: “The company’s TV partners, NBCUniversal and Fox, are also reportedly getting anxious about the state of the WWE.”

It notes that the TV networks will pay $470 million a year combined for RAW and Smackdown starting in October. RAW is down around 20% from last year while Smackdown is down 17%. Variety points to creative as a reason for the issues.

– WWE stock is currently trading at $69.90. It should be noted that it was trading at close to $100 before first quarter financials and then dropped sharply.