tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post7391737439408511303..comments2023-07-15T07:17:49.535-04:00Comments on Professional Wrestling in U.S. Popular Culture: Outside the DemographicSam Fordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-92131644093323227062014-11-12T12:46:58.968-04:002014-11-12T12:46:58.968-04:00You raise some great questions, Melissa. Part of t...You raise some great questions, Melissa. Part of this is the struggle between "target demographics," on the one hand, and the actual audience a show draws. WWE exists as an overall business but also as a TV show (RAW and Smackdown), the latter of which fits within the TV industry's advertising model of often focusing the show on a particular "demo." In reality, a wide range of WWE's fans in the 1980s weren't child Hulkamaniacs, just as the majority of fans weren't teenagers or young adult males during the Attitude Era. However, that was the demographic that advertisers wanted, and they were drawing that demographic heavily--so they put their heaviest focus around it.<br /><br />Elsewhere, I've written about the idea of "surplus audiences," the audiences who watch but fall outside the target demo. For these audiences, it can be very frustrating, because you like a show despite the fact that it obviously isn't made for you...Wrestling is a "soap opera for men" yet estimates say somewhere between a third and half of its audience is female. Wrestling has been "for kids," or for "young men," yet its audience is much more diverse. WWE programs its show as if it's largely for the U.S. audience, but a significant amount of its support is international. These "target demos" have very real impact on how the show looks and feels, though, and I think Henry IV's perspective comes from someone who grew up constantly in the demo WWE was targeting at the time.<br /><br />In theory, though, with the "following a generation" argument, if WWE became tamer when the Hulkamaniac and Attitude fan became of parenting age, the cycle might start all over again with their taking their kids to the area and WWE growing up right alongside the next generation...so you can see how that model makes sense.<br /><br />But the idea that "wrestling is cyclical" sometimes has also become an excuse to explain why bad decisions, etc., led to wrestling's popularity falling.Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.com