By Jonathan Klotz | Published
It’s no surprise that the entertainment landscape has changed significantly over the past decade as more and more people have “cut the cord” and ditched paying for cable. One of the few reasons to continue paying for services was access to live sports, the one segment that streaming had failed to crack, but now major sports are available on streaming platforms, including Paramount+, Amazon and even YouTube. Netflix destroyed cable’s last bastion, weekly live events, with the arrival of WWE Raw on January 6, and with a seamless viewer experience watched by more than 6 million people worldwide, the death of cable has finally arrived.
WWE has come to Netflix
For nearly 30 years, professional wrestling has been one of the highest-rated programs on cable, from WCW Monday Nitro has WWE RawDuring the infamous Monday Night War era in the late ’90s, the shows attracted more than 13 million total viewers each week. That’s only a small fraction of Netflix’s subscriber base today, but in the cable universe, it made them the most successful shows of the era. Now, no cable show comes close to those numbers, with even WWE Raw managing around 2.2-3 million in a good week, but even that was still enough to make it one of the top three highest-rated cable shows each week.
Netflix and TKO, WWE’s new parent company, reported that even on the streaming service, WWE Raw drew better numbers than it has in years on 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 had nothing left to attract studios, viewers or even advertisers. Live events were the last thing that propped up a dying industry, and once that’s gone, what will cable companies do since cutting rates and charging less, the obvious solution, will never happen?
Live events were all broadcast on cable
The Jake Paul/Mike Tyson fight on Netflix earlier in 2024 was a disaster that gave cable companies hope that WWE’s move to streaming wouldn’t work. Buffering issues made one of the worst boxing matches in history unbearable, but when WWE Raw kicked off with a level of pomp and circumstance that no other organization can match, there were no problems. I watched from start to finish and never had a single problem with my stream.
It is unlikely that WWE Raw will draw the same level of viewers over the next few weeks, since the big debut was supposed to bring in new fans, but we’re starting the road to WrestleMania, which is historically when the company gets hot. At the same time, the NFL playoffs are starting and each week, several games will be available for streaming, either Paramount+, Amazon Prime or YouTube TV. That’s several live events each week that have broken free from traditional television, and over Thanksgiving, Netflix successfully streamed an NFL game, proving it can do anything cable does, but for now, it It’s cheaper.
Why even keep the cable?
Major cable-exclusive shows are rare, with even the most successful shows being available on a streamer upon their debut or shortly after. Netflix’s ability to feature movies and shows of all genres, including disappointing ones Atlas with Jennifer Lopez or the surprise success of Rebel Crestand have more viewers in a day than cable hits like Shogun earning over their lifetime is simply unmatched. Even then, Shogun was available on Hulu with the addition of live TV, so if that’s an option, and now wrestling, the last fandom stuck on cable, has taken the plunge, why subscribe to cable?
This is a question that more and more people will be asking, especially with AEW coming to Max, if you have Netflix and even an additional streaming service, what does cable offer? You can enjoy countless replays of Ridiculousincluding episodes that aren’t on Paramount+, and can spend hours channel surfing to find something to watch or watch one of the countless streaming services available.
