(The following is based on an excerpt from the ‘BEYOND NITRO’ book by Guy Evans. Click here to get it from Amazon.)
BEYOND NITRO by Guy Evans, provides an in-depth look at the business decisions that led to WWE’s shift to a “PG” product, a move that former employees say was an “enormous positive for the company” and essential for its long-term growth. The excerpt features interviews with former WWE and network executives who detail how the edginess of the “Attitude Era,” while popular, created a “derisive stigma” that limited advertising revenue and disrupted the company’s ability to create lifelong fans.
Eric Fleischer, formerly WWE’s Senior Director of Insights, explained that the cultural appetite for edgy content in the late 1990s, personified by shows like Jerry Springer and wrestling’s nWo and Attitude Era storylines, was not appealing to major advertisers. “[It] never really was a place of comfort for an advertiser looking to sell their product to either a broad audience, or a younger audience [for whom] that edgy content may not have been appropriate,” Fleischer stated in the book that edgy content may not have been appropriate.”].
Lisa Fischer, a former USA Network executive, confirmed this, noting that despite high ratings, the WWF’s appeal to advertisers was “limited.” “Back in the 1990s, [the WWF] was very highly rated on the network, yet limited advertisers wanted to be associated with the program,” Fischer said was very highly rated on the network,” notes Fischer, “yet limited advertisers wanted to be associated with the program.]. She recalled that the CPM (cost per mille, or the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand views or clicks) numbers for the 18-49 adult demographic were in the “mid-single digits” during that time CPM numbers were probably in the mid-single digits.].
The shift to a PG rating, which officially began in July 2008, was a deliberate strategy to broaden this appeal. Fleischer argues that the move was a massive success, opening the door for partnerships with major family-friendly brands. “All of a sudden now, you start having these relationships with the Disney Vacation Clubs of the world…[and] you start getting auto advertisers that you never got before,” he said you start getting auto advertisers that you never got before.]. “I don’t think any of those relationships were possible without WWE pushing itself as a PG brand. That was very, very important” moved from WWE to NBCUniversal.”].
Fleischer also revealed a crucial piece of internal research from 2004 that heavily influenced the decision. The data showed that the Attitude Era had “put a kink” in the lifecycle of a typical WWE fan. Traditionally, fans started watching before the age of eight, were introduced by a family member, grew out of it in their teens, and then returned as adults to introduce it to their own children happened is that people then flung out of it – around high school or college or so – and then they came back to it in early adulthood, and then introduced their kid…or younger nephew or niece or whatever…to the brand themselves.].
However, the adult-oriented content of the Attitude Era broke this cycle. “When we hit the Attitude Era, people were less likely to introduce that eight-year-old [family member] to the brand,” Fleischer explained to the brand.]. “People weren’t being introduced to it until they got older – around 13 or 14 – and then [shortly after], that was a natural ‘drop out’ point for people. So when you’d expect them to then go back – in their late twenties – they didn’t have as much time invested in it”, that was a natural ‘drop out’ point for people. So when you’d expect them to then go back – in their late twenties – they didn’t have as much time invested in it.]. The PG shift was designed to fix this “rite of passage,” allowing older fans to once again share the product with their children and create a new generation of viewers, I think the move to the PG era really gave that ‘Gen Xer’ – or maybe a little bit older – the opportunity to now introduce their kids to a product…that couldn’t be done during the Attitude Era.]. The financial results of this strategy, according to Fleischer, were undeniable. “The fact of the matter is that once they started getting these big corporate relationships, revenues were higher than they ever were”.
