WoS/World of Sport held their third episode this weekend on ITV and the ratings for the show appear to have been released.
The first week’s numbers released by an ‘insider’ at the DigitalSpy website were instantly refuted by a production staff member at ITV. These latest numbers for the August 11th episode have again been revealed by a user at the DigitalSpy forum however these do not appear to have yet been disputed.
Here’s the reported number:
- 17:00 – WOS Wrestling: 539k (4.9% share)
Last week’s number after being ‘tapechecked’ was around 584k with a 6.6% share. You may remember that the debut show number was around 924k with a height of around 1.2 million viewers.
Before looking what these numbers mean it is important to consider how the rest of Saturday night UK television performed, including the return of the Premier League on BT Sport:
ITV
- 16:00 – The Chase: 946k (10.2%)
- 17:00 – WOS Wrestling: 539k (4.9%)
- 18:00 – ITV Evening News: 1.53m (11.9%)
- 18:15 – ITV Regional News: 1.82m (13.7%)
- 18:30 – Japandemonium: 1.22m (9.1%)
- 19:00 – Big Star’s Little Star: 2.76m (18.3%)
BBC One
- 16:30 – Final Score: 1.75m (18.1%)
- 17:10 – BBC News: 2.21m (21.0%)
- 17:20 – BBC Regional News: 2.55m (23.1%)
- 16:30 – European Championships 2018: 797k (7.9%)
Sky Sports
- 17:15 – EFL Derby County vs Leeds United: 280k (2.0%)
BT Sport 1
- 17:00 – Live Wolves v Everton: 546k (4.2%)
Fans in the UK will no doubt know the impact of football (soccer) on sports fans in this part of the world. Whilst the numbers posted for BT Sport are marginally more than ITV at the 5pm time slot BT is a pay per view channel and Everton vs Wolves is not a marquee match by any stretch, next week will feature Chelsea vs Arsenal which is a FAR bigger event that casual football fans will watch. The Sky Sports number is also interesting as it featured a match from a lower league (The Championship) and again is a premium channel.
The real worry is the huge drop in viewership from the 4pm slot on ITV at 946k for gameshow The Chase (which ironically features a huge wrestling fan as one of the regulars) and whilst the jump to 1.53 million for the ITV News is expected it is again eyebrow raising compared to the preceding content.
The question at this point must be “will WoS be cancelled?” As a fan of the UK scene it was important, but not imperative, that this project worked. There was already a thriving scene in the region before WoS and there still will be if and when the show has moved on. In terms of promotion for the programme there has not been anywhere near the exposure and marketing drive that people would expect for a national programme. Whilst the number does appear to have shelved at the 500k mark at the very least there appears to be an audience (although this is difficult to confirm after just 3 weeks).
The Wrestling Observer claimed that ITV would be making the decision on WoS after 3 episodes and whilst this is pure speculation and not confirmed these numbers cannot really be spun in a truly positive light. Next week’s episode will see the return of Will Ospreay and the WoS Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray, so hopefully there can be some bounce back for WoS but as previously mentioned there will be strong opposition from the Premier League evening game.
Did you watch Episode three of WoS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments
