The goal of the current AAA management has clearly been to try to increase their television audience. I’ve spent a lot of words discussing how they’ve tried to do it (and which parts don’t interest me), but they’ve been more successful of late. As LLL has noted in the comments, Triple A has been earning ratings of high 5 and low 6s since late February.
For the second week of Rey de Reyes, they reached a new level. A source in Televisa informed AAA that their 03/28 show scored a 9.0 in Mexico City, and was in the 8s nationally. That’s by far the highest number we’ve seen since we started recording these numbers last fall, and as close as either Mexican promotion has gotten to the main WWE shows in Mexico.
Week 2 of Rey de Reyes was the tournament itself. While it’s possible Mexico might have decided to embrace Chessman as their Rey de Reyes, the more likely answer is word of mouth spreading about the La Parka Jr. & LA Park angle. That confrontation was replayed on this show, and there were probably a significant amount of people checking out the show after hearing about the story the week before. Only a low percentage of lucha libre fans are on the internet, so many of them probably only found out it when they saw it on TV, or when someone told them they saw it on TV.
The 8 rating is validation for the current style of television show. We may not be a fan of it (I am not a fan of a lot of it), but they’re surely going not going to be changing much any time soon.
They will be changing one big thing, though: as seen on this past week’s AAA TV, most tapings from now on will be stretched out over two weeks. This’ll mean about 3 matches will air over the 2 hour show, with the extra free time now being used for more interviews and skits. If that latter part doesn’t appeal to you, maybe you can hold out hope that some of the undercard matches which have been eviscerated by editing of late will now be shown closer to complete.
The scheduling bonus to doing TV this way is now they only have to tape every other week. The downside is they’ve got a huge lag; if you look at the schedule, it appears AAA almost doesn’t even need to tape in May. They surely will, and this will make it very easy for TripleMania to air only on PPV without AAA’s normal TV skipping a beat. There’s been no confirmation they will, but it seems very likely.
Let’s see if the high ratings hold up. 3/28 was Palm Sunday, so everyone was home and off the next day.
The new format of 2 hours was started in response to Televisa going to NATPE in January, and signing some S. American deals. Once that happened, Televisa had no choice but to simplify the program. It would be a disaster if they had a 2.5 or 3 hour show in Mexico, then had the headache of editing for foreign broadcasters.
It’s a shame that as ratings increase, attendance plummets. AAA in Queretaro for Rey de Reyes looked to have about 3,500 to 4,000 at most. They would’ve drawn better indoors at Gimnasio Arteaga where they always run. Juan de Barrera looked to have about 2,500 based on photos I’ve seen.
Another aspect of the new format is giving just one segement(or block as they say in Mexico) to undercard matches. Koslov vs. Extreme Tiger had one segment. If AAA stretches a taping out over 2 weeks, they’ll probably stretch the matches out over 2 and 3 segments instead.
I like the one segment format for undercard, and two for top matches. I don’t think the casual fan as the interest level, patience, or attention span to want anything longer. If AAA stretches it out, ratings will go down again.
Did I miss the announcement or is it just speculation that all tapings will be divided over 2 weeks now?
I just scrolled down and read Cubs response to my question about attendance at Rey de Reyes. Figures 8,000 was reported. Looks much smaller to me.
@Rob: I’ve been told that’s the way they’re going
@thecubsfan: I don’t like that. Less paydays and less exposure for guys who rarely get used as it is. Doubt this format sticks or it’s just an idea being floated that will go nowhere. I mean… explain to me how tonight’s taping gets split over 2 weeks?
I don’t think it’s a great idea either, but I would guess they just repeat the Konnan/Hermandad trio the second week to make it “work”
It has been said before that AAA sells their tapings as a sold house show to local promoters, knowing it will draw a big gate b/c it’s tv. Maybe the promoters aren’t lining up anymore, so they are cutting back as a result?
This is a bad sign as far as the economic stability of AAA.
Another problem with Mexico is a lack of suitable venues for television. Cuernavaca looks like garbage on television with low ceiling. Bullrings are too big and the camera angles suck b/c there’s no place to set up the hard cams and get a good angle.
So cutting back, but being selective when it comes to picking tv venues may not be bad.
I wonder how much the Roldan family will want when they put AAA up for sale? Does it come with the name? Video library? Contract? Likenesses?
Where does this rating information come from?
Read the post carefully.
AAA 4/11 4.9
CMLL 4/10 3.3
4/16 Smackdown 9.3
4/17 CMLL 3.7
4/18 AAA 4.4
4/19 RAW 8.2
AAA is down this week. They did not air in their regular timeslot. It aired from 3-5 instead of 4-6p.
@LLL: Are there hourly (or quarter hour) breakdowns to see if the time shift actually made a difference?
@Alan: There are, but you would have to work for IBOPE or have access to that stuff. I just get the “top line” which is the basic rating.
I wish both AAA and CMLL would leave Telerisa.
Televisa boxing 7.1
TV Azteca boxing 9.7
@LLL: Forgot to say, the boxing all aired on Saturday night.
That “8” really looks like an outlier.
@thecubsfan: It was the holy week in Mexico, there was no soccer competition, and not much else to watch, so that might have helped AAA’s rating that week.
I do think that the constantly changing starting times hurt ratings.