A Million Dollar Question

At last night's Raw, Vince McMahon announced that he intends to give one million dollars a week to fans of the company.

The owner built the announcement throughout the entire broadcast of the show as a way to hook the viewers in. Then - in the final segment - he broke the news although he did preface that he had not worked out the logistics of it yet.

So, what really happened was this - Vince McMahon, in a desperate attempt for ratings, informed the viewers that he was going to do something that hasn't been done in television before. He kept this up for nearly two hours then came out and said he was going to give away a prize but didn't say how or when.

This couldn't be classed as a bait-and-switch tactic because he did say he was giving away a prize.

Sort of.

We'll see how this idea worked when the ratings for the show come in later on tonight. I am not sure whether there would have been a jump although I believe they may have been steady throughout the broadcast as Vince appeared in quite a few of the segments.

The most telling thing about this approach isn't how the ratings were last night, though. The real indicator will be how many people tune in next week and beyond in the hope of being one of the lucky viewers.

The whole idea seems like a stab in the dark for the WWE. Ratings have been reaching lows for the first time in a decade. The fact that he has had to resort to a prize like this shows a desperate attempt to hook-in viewers.

If it takes a million dollars to bring in the punters you have to wonder what kind of a product you are producing and why they went away in the first place.

Another thing about this deal is - who is going to win? C'mon we're talking about a worked sport here. Everything is kayfabed in their world.