Reaching the Impressionable WWE Fan on Cable

Know Your Audience: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

 

 

I GREW UP IN THE 90’S, I GREW UP A WRESTLING FAN.

For this adolescent, there was nothing more fun than watching WCW Monday Nitro! I mean, who cares about Monday Night Football?

Those battles between the kings of the ring were the start and highlight of my week. Wrestlers like Juventude “Juvi” Guerrera, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and my personal favorite Rey Mysterio kept my nose inches from the TV through their high-flying, acrobatic moves and in-depth storylines that were coupled some of the best acting on TV.

That was a different time for pro-wrestling as the sport was split into two factions. My preferred side of the action was the WCW which featured those listed above, and the “dark side” so to speak was the WWF. With the WWF you would find all-time greats like the Big Show, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and of course, the Rock.

Around 2001, those two leagues merged to become WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), and probably had one of the greatest franchise evolutions in television history via The Invasion. This was a storyline which brought the two together through a series of cable and pay-per-view matchups between the two stables of wrestlers.

As my interests began do change, so did the landscape of the WWE. Over the last 15 years, the brand and product that is the WWE has continued to evolve (and flourish) with a mix of up-and-coming favorites and veteran stars.

Currently, the WWE offers two main cable offerings, Raw and Smackdown. These air on Mondays and Tuesdays (respectively) on USA. The two programs have split up some of the key federation members between the shows which each carry their own storylines.

 

WHO’S WATCHING

Now outside of consuming the 6+ hours of weekly programming, the WWE viewer is one of the most unique advertising targets available to cable advertisers. This individual has, in large part, grown up with the sport as the typical viewer lies in the 35-54 demographic (43%). In addition, 60% of WWE viewers are homeowners, but they are nearly 20% more likely to rent their home. Financially this viewer skews towards a lower house-hold income (56% of viewers make less than $50,000/year), and these viewers tend to be big followers and consumers of video games, poker, and action sports such as MMA and NASCAR.

The amazing news for those looking to reach this demographic is that the WWE viewer’s other key interests are primarily found on cable.

Programming such as the World Series of Poker can be found on ESPN, NASCAR and MMA fights are routinely aired live on NBC Sports and FS1, and even competitive video gaming or “eSports” have found their way to cable via TBS’s Friday night video game series that launched in 2016.

The often impressionable WWE viewer should be one of your key targets as we move into the new year, and Cox Media is, as Bret “the Hitman” Hart would say, “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be” when it comes to reaching the WWE viewer.