Source: BusinessWire
In its earnings release, WWE revealed the buyrates of some recent PPVs:
Backlash – 273,000 buys
Judgment Day – 236,000 buys
ECW One Night Stand – 268,000 buys
Great American Bash – 233,000 buys
Vengeance – 320,000 buys
The most glaring conclusion to be drawn is that RAW continues to be the superior brand for generating PPV purchases. Rather than reflecting TV viewership, the numbers reflect the general feeling that RAW comes off as the “main show,” while SmackDown! is secondary. With SmackDown! likely to lose viewers as it moves to Friday, there is increasing pressure to book effective storylines on the network show.
While technically strong, the reality is that most will look at the ECW buyrate as a disappointment. The Internet hype distorted the perception of the PPV by suggesting it would score a WrestleMania-esque buyrate (two sources predicted in the 550,000-800,000 range); the flaw in such thinking was that ECW had always been most popular with the diehard “Internet fans” – such online hype was not a valid indicator for casual fan reaction.
