Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
It’s no surprise that the entertainment landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade as more and more people have “cut the cord” and stopped paying for cable. One of the few reasons to continue paying for services was access to live sports, one aspect of which streaming has never been able to crack, but now, major sports are available on streaming platforms, including Paramount+, Amazon, and even YouTube. Netflix dropped the last staple of cable, weekly live events, with the arrival of WWE Raw on January 6, and with an uninterrupted viewership of over 6 million people worldwide, the death of cable has come to an end.
WWE Comes to Netflix
For nearly 30 years, pro wrestling has been one of the most rated programs on cable, since WCW Monday Nitro to WWE Rawduring the infamous Monday Night Wars era in the late 90s, the shows would draw more than 13 million viewers, combined, each week. That’s a tiny fraction of Netflix subscribers today, but in the cable universe, that made them the most successful shows of the time. Now there is no cable show that draws anywhere near those numbers, proportionally WWE Raw managing about 2.2-3 million in a good week, but even that was still good enough to make it one of the three highest-rated cable shows each week.
Netflix and TKO, WWE’s new parent company, reported that even on the streaming service, WWE Raw pulled in the best number of years on the USA Network: 4.9 million viewers. Once that number was announced and the success of the move to Netflix reached investors, it became clear that cable no longer had anything to attract studios, viewers, or even advertisers. Live events were the last thing that encouraged a dying industry, and now that they’re gone, what will cable companies do as they cut rates and charge less, the obvious solution, won’t happen?
Live Events Every Cable Has
The Jake Paul/Mike Tyson fight on Netflix in early 2024 was a disaster that gave cable companies hope that WWE’s streaming move would not be successful. Buffering issues made one of the worst boxing matches in history unbearable, ever WWE Raw launched with a level of glamor and status that no other organization can match, no problems. I watched from start to finish and never had a single issue with my stream.
That can’t happen WWE Raw will attract the same level of viewers in the next few weeks, as the big debut was expected to attract new fans, but we are starting the road to WrestleMania, which is the history when the company is hot. At the same time, the NFL playoffs begin, and each week, more games will be available for streaming, be it Paramount+, Amazon Prime, or YouTube TV. That’s a lot of live events every week that have been released on traditional television, and during Thanksgiving, Netflix successfully broadcast the NFL Game, proving that it can do everything that cable does, but at the moment, it’s cheap.
Why Even Keep Cable?
Major cable shows are few and far between, and even the most successful shows may be available on a streamer when they premiere or come to one soon. Netflix’s ‘ability to premiere movies and shows of any genre, including disappointing ones Atlas starring Jennifer Lopez or the surprising success of Rebel Ridgeand we had more viewers in one day than similar cable hits Shogun the money they earn in their lifetime is simply incomparable. Even then, Shogun it was available on Hulu with a live TV add-on, so if that’s an option, and now wrestling, the last fandom clinging to cable, is successful, why sign up for cable at all?
The question a lot of people will be asking themselves, especially with AEW coming to the Max, is if you have Netflix and one streaming service, what does cable offer? You can enjoy dozens of reruns of Sarcasmincluding episodes not on Paramount+, and can spend hours scanning channels to find something to watch or watching one of the countless streaming services available.
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