TNA Wrestling has come under harsh criticism for dropping the ball in promoting Monday’s timeslot premiere of iMPACT, and the evidence of how TNA missed out is crystal clear.
The number two domestic wrestling promotion has relied on the Internet to get the word out regarding some big developments on Monday’s show, and while word-of-mouth from those campaigns plus general interest in seeing another wrestling product tomorrow might lead to a passable rating, it is clear that the Internet is not the most effective marketing avenue.
For proof, the latest YouTube count on TNA’s “first five minutes” video is 38,000 views. The latest count on another video hyping Monday’s live premiere is 18,000.
Thursday’s iMPACT, meanwhile, drew an average of 1.49 million viewers, and that audience was not subjected to an aggressive campaign for Monday’s show.
With Sting, Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy all apparently scheduled for the show, many are wondering why TNA did not actively profile each name on Thursday’s show to get the publicity ball rolling.