The Future of ECW on Sci Fi

by Jack Windham
May 7, 2008

Now that ECW has celebrated their 100th episode on Sci Fi, will it last another 100 episodes?

ECW on Sci Fi

From the start, ECW being on the Sci Fi Channel has always been an awkward fit.

A lot of people at the time openly wondered why a wrestling show was on a station that focused on science fiction.

ECW started off really strong, producing some of the best ratings that the network has ever seen.

Two years later, and the ratings are a bit lower. However, it's still good enough to rank among the best shows on the network.

Rise and Fall of ECW

Even though ECW has been doing well in the ratings, the Sci Fi Network isn't exactly in love with the program.

Some wrestling fans foolishly believe that high ratings are the only things that a network is looking for from a television show.

The reason why networks want high ratings is that it makes it easier to entice advertisers into paying more money for commercial spots.

While wrestling may be quite popular with the fans, it's not all that popular with advertisers.

For various reasons, a lot of advertisers avoid wrestling shows.

ECW could get a 5.0 ratings, and it would mean absolutely nothing if they couldn't secure advertisers with that number.

It'd be worth just as much as it is right now around the 1.2 mark.

When the show's contract ended a couple of months ago, Vince McMahon had to convince the network to keep them on the air.

If things don't improve when the current contract ends later on in 2008, Vince McMahon might not be able to convince the network a second time.

Lessen the Burden

Another thing to think about is whether or not WWE wants to keep ECW around once the contract ends.

Right now, management is having a really hard time with all three shows because the writing staff is dangerously thin.

The writing team already does not have enough time to focus on a lot of the wrestlers on Raw and Smackdown.

Getting rid of ECW eases up the burden quite a bit for the writing team. They would definitely be able to focus more on Raw and Smackdown.

Plus, the dozen or so wrestlers that are on the ECW roster can be used to provide depth to the other two brands.

Closing Thoughts

If I had to bet on it, I would say that ECW does not get to celebrate its 200th episode. Hopefully, I'm wrong.