Vince McMahon is not too concerned with the ratings in WWE.
Though ratings for Raw and SmackDown have declined year over year, Vince believes the WWE fanbase is stronger than ever, citing ratings as just one metric in determining how many people are tuning in to the WWE product.
When asked about the ratings during the third-quarter financials call, Vince said, "When you look at television ratings, that's what they are. With us, it's one of our many measurements. When you look at total, when you get into YouTube, etc... we have far more fans now than we have ever had. When you look at television ratings, it is what it is. Not to say we don't want to increase them, of course we do. Aside from that, our total audience is much bigger, so you can't just hang your hat on 'ratings are down.' Without question, we have to have a mothership, and we do with Raw and SmackDown, and from there, clips and comments and other videos, take it to the next week or the next year. We're never off the air. It's fine to say ratings are down, I wanted to give you that bit of color in terms of overall viewpoint."
He elaborated specifically on the ratings and how to increase them by saying, "As far as ratings getting higher, we're doing everything we can. As far as the ThunderDome is concerned, it's been received very well by fans and brought more back. It's better writing, better execution and talent that people are interested in. That's pretty basic."
WWE President Nick Khan commented by saying that he doesn't believe the rights fees will go down despite the declining ratings, pointing to WWE's success against the NHL and NBA Playoffs in recent months.
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