We need to talk about Broadcasters

[Kalmus]

Simply put, broadcasters and their systems are completely broken, and need to be completely reworked.

 

So what am I talking about? So over last week or so I have been playing my so far most enjoyable save on TEW20. Using the 2010 database.

 

I am in the middle of the total wrestling war that raised the industry importance to 99. My little promotion went from small to big inside a year. However, that was done through pure will and determination of myself to not throw TEW20 through a window.

 

So first issue I encountered. Getting dropped by a network if you miss their rating 3 times. Now while this would not be such a huge problem in itself. What is a huge problem the fact you are then locked out of negotiating with ANYONE FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR! that is in that field be it PPV, Commerical whatever.

 

If this was the case in real life. RAW would have been canceled 10 years ago and WWE or any wrestling promotion in history would go down in blaze of fire.

 

This is unrealistic on so many level

 

Ratings? They mean nothing. I pulled 7.33,6.56,6.36,6.27,6.69,6.59 or in pure show rating numbers 92,92,83,88,93,91,85 and when we got canceled (Again) an 86.

 

At this point I am forced to book my show like this in order to satisfy my Broadcaster. Top guy vs Top guy. 2 top guys vs 2 top guys top girl vs some random girl who can work, and about 20 promos from The Rock in order for my show to get a decent rating.

 

Can I push an up and coming Wrestler? Not on that show I cant. And B shows? Utterly useless would not be able to get prime Steve Austin over on one of those.

 

Add on that the show ratings the Big and up broadcasters demand for Prime Time are ridiculous. 89 for big and very big ??? 91 - 93 for huge ?!?!

 

How the HELL is someone who has not played any of old TEW versions suppose to reach Prime Time on Huge TVs ??? I have been playing this game for years and I am telling you right now. ONLY AND I MEAN ONLY WAY you can be on Prime Time, earn money at the same time is if you have your own broadcaster.

 

You have your own broadcaster ? Fantastic you are good to go. No one will ever be able to touch you.

 

Why ? Because even AI cant deal with insane demands Broadcasters put. I have seen every single medium to big promotion droped from their prime time slots just because if they did not. They would lose TV deal and be locked out of it for AN ENTIRE YEAR. I want to enjoy my playtrough and build new stars not book same show every goddamn week in order to stay prime time!

 

Do NOT tell me "Oh that is because the modder did not set up Broadcasters correctly" because the broadcaster I am on has neutral stance on Wrestling and "Very Big" in USA as they should based on their real life standing. Then other broadcasters of that level or higher? Demand a 91-92 rating even if they are high pro to Wrestling.

 

Apologies if I sound a little angry,but I enjoy TEW20 and this issue has been bane of my existance in it. I grinded trough an entire year after being droped due to having 3 not as good shows in 3 months. Only to be droped again from by far best option I could have picked for my show to go to next level and I can not put myself trough another year of grinding trough in order to get bigger broadcaster as I do not wish to abuse own broadcasters.

[Basmat01]

if the data is converted from 2016 the chances are they haven't been checked/adjusted/tweaked since it was brought over.

 

also try a small network.

[Historian]

The problem seems to be the concept that people are being dropped from their prime time slots. Prime Time slots are the hardest to hold onto. They are the most competitive slots on television. They charge the highest ad rates. They get the most viewers and television networks are historically less likely to keep a show that has sagging ratings (look at the graveyard of sitcoms that never made it past a couple of episodes because of ratings, or shows that are critically acclaimed now, like Firefly, that were cancelled before their first season finished because of ratings).

 

There are other factors that could be effecting this -- like how your shows are graded. Are you regular focus? Main event spotlight? Etc. Those focuses can change how your shows are graded to change where the emphasis is to allow you to do things differently.

 

It's also not particularly, at least to me, out of the ordinary. WWE television has been criticized as incredibly stale over recent years because of their inability to push new talent, create new stars, etc. Part of that (which doesn't get enough look) is the network's desire to see established, name brand stars in the Prime Time hours.

 

Also, it's not always three shows. Different broadcasters have different limits that they will take. I did an SWF save where I went like 9 or 10 shows without ever giving them the rating they want and I didn't get kicked off.

 

I've run many watcher games in 2020 as well and I haven't encountered this issue, so while you said 'don't tell me it is a mod issue' -- it very well could be a mod balance issue.

[20LEgend]

I would definitely like to see a change made where by you don't have to wait a whole year to get a new deal.

[Kalmus]

if the data is converted from 2016 the chances are they haven't been checked/adjusted/tweaked since it was brought over.

 

also try a small network.

 

 

I am fairly sure they created their own broadcasters instead of converting them from TEW16. I was originally on a Network with "Small" coverage but got removed from it after in 3 months I had 3 shows that fell under their demanded rating (which was a 60)

 

I was then locked off from negotiating with any broadcaster (except my own) for a year. Which I then had to use in order to survive. I spent money I earned on upgrading that broadcaster and put on good enough shows to raise to "Big" level.

 

So once I was finally able to negotiate with other broadcasters there was one Broadcaster I really wanted to go on to as they had "Very Big" coverage but wanted 88 rating per show compared to other big ones who wanted 90+ (which is already super hard to do)

 

I want to be in primetime on bigger network because who would not want that? I could have easily stayed on my Network but I wanted to go on bigger ones. However at the current state it is impossible to go to anything higher then Medium due to them having too high of demands.

[Historian]

 

I want to be in primetime on bigger network because who would not want that? I could have easily stayed on my Network but I wanted to go on bigger ones. However at the current state it is impossible to go to anything higher then Medium due to them having too high of demands.

 

Try not being in prime time for awhile as your people build up more popularity and skills by having more exposure -- then when you make the move to prime time, you will be better equipped.

[Kalmus]

The problem seems to be the concept that people are being dropped from their prime time slots. Prime Time slots are the hardest to hold onto. They are the most competitive slots on television. They charge the highest ad rates. They get the most viewers and television networks are historically less likely to keep a show that has sagging ratings (look at the graveyard of sitcoms that never made it past a couple of episodes because of ratings, or shows that are critically acclaimed now, like Firefly, that were cancelled before their first season finished because of ratings).

 

There are other factors that could be effecting this -- like how your shows are graded. Are you regular focus? Main event spotlight? Etc. Those focuses can change how your shows are graded to change where the emphasis is to allow you to do things differently.

 

It's also not particularly, at least to me, out of the ordinary. WWE television has been criticized as incredibly stale over recent years because of their inability to push new talent, create new stars, etc. Part of that (which doesn't get enough look) is the network's desire to see established, name brand stars in the Prime Time hours.

 

Also, it's not always three shows. Different broadcasters have different limits that they will take. I did an SWF save where I went like 9 or 10 shows without ever giving them the rating they want and I didn't get kicked off.

 

I've run many watcher games in 2020 as well and I haven't encountered this issue, so while you said 'don't tell me it is a mod issue' -- it very well could be a mod balance issue.

 

 

I can understand those slots being hardest to hold on to. But look at WCW for example they were Prime Time even at their worst. So far I have been dropped by two "Neutral to wrestling" Broadcasters after failing to deliver a rating they wanted 3 times. First time it was 3 times in 3 months 2nd time was in 2 months. As I said WWE would have been dropped in a second if we went with this system iRL.

 

My show setup is Main Event Spotlight with Consistent Angles. And each show I have one of my two my guys Tyler Black and The Rock having a match with someone of decent pop/skill as main event. With plenty of promos in order to boost that rating number.

 

But if I put someone who for example does not have 60-75 pop in midcard/lowercard that I am trying to build up my show instantly tanks

 

Here is an example of a show that reached the required rating

 

And one that did not.

 

 

Also I went to check and broadcaster I am on is made just fine. If I was a mod maker I would have made them exactly the same.

 

To also reply to post above,I have about 4-5 guys who are considured "Major Stars". However id like to maybe book someone else sometimes in those two hours.

[Kalmus]

Also as few folks said to change away from Prime Time.

 

- Late Evening and Evening

- Prime Time

 

Just 1 point difference. And Late Night/Graveyard id rather not.

 

Also broadcaster I am on. I do not see any issue with it? Coverge wise its "Very Big" in USA.

 

[thedinosaurwizard]

I can understand those slots being hardest to hold on to. But look at WCW for example they were Prime Time even at their worst.

 

That's not really a great example, as WCW was owned by the network it was airing on. There was no chance they were going to put a product that expensive to produce on in any other slot, and the moment the ownership group changed, the new owners cut the programming and sold the IP.

[praguepride]

And to continue the WCW thing as soon as Ted Turner sold it WCW was immediately put on the hurt locker because they weren't producing the ratings their slot warranted.

[Matt_Black]

That's not really a great example, as WCW was owned by the network it was airing on. There was no chance they were going to put a product that expensive to produce on in any other slot, and the moment the ownership group changed, the new owners cut the programming and sold the IP.

 

Of course, in hindsight, they should have sold the IP first, because doing it the other way cost them BILLIONS of dollars.

[Donners]

I must admit, I don't understand the one-year block on negotiations after a show is cancelled.

 

It doesn't seem to have a basis in reality as far as I can see, and it leads to bizarre situations where a major company loses its primary TV deal and continues running its show for a tiny audience for a year.

[Ruthian23]

I think this is a fair criticism. If some networks and timeslots are set up in such a way that to not get cancelled you can't feature anyone outside of the top top main eventers in your matches and angles, what is the point of having those timeslots even be available? I'm playing in the Vanilla Cornellverse, and it's kind of the same thing. I haven't gone for a prime time or even late evening show because that kind of rating is impossible outside of an isolated show.

 

I've never had even a single show that would qualify as an acceptable episode, and I think altogether I've seen maybe 3-4 worldwide that would meet that standard from all the promotions. It would be impossible to do that weekly unless you have several super high heat guys and ONLY feature those guys, as the original poster has had to do. If the game mechanics for a time slot that's available basically force you to abandon lower-end main eventers and upper midcarders and midcarders, I think it seems like there's a potential balance issue, or something wrong with the system.

 

I wasn't even aware of the 1 year thing, but that seems like something that should definitely be fixed. If you're cancelled, you should be able to renegotiate, I'd think.

[Taker4455]

All of the broadcast/ppv elements of the game, from the ratings to the revenue generated, is a complete and utter mess. It's an absolute game breaker regardless of which database you use. I'm baffled that this game supposedly went through extensive testing pre-release.

[Makhai]

Of course, in hindsight, they should have sold the IP first, because doing it the other way cost them BILLIONS of dollars.

 

They didn't care, they just wanted out. Bischoff had a tabled offer of 20-30x what McMahon paid. He just needed some time to sure up funding. They took basically nothing from McMahon. They could have set up a public auction, they could have done a lot of things, they could have given WCW time to negotiate a new TV deal. They could have pushed them off primetime moved them back to TBS w/e. They didn't care if they profited, or what happened to WCW, they just wanted out of the wrestling business.

 

This is why Russo gets too much flak honestly. If they were still making 100M a year all the way through 2000 they'd have still been sold for a ham sandwich because AOL HATED wrestling, and the suits at Turner did as well, when Ted lost controlling board vote, it was over either way.

[Donners]

All of the broadcast/ppv elements of the game, from the ratings to the revenue generated, is a complete and utter mess. It's an absolute game breaker regardless of which database you use. I'm baffled that this game supposedly went through extensive testing pre-release.

 

Pop growth, both for companies and workers, seems to be an issue as well.

 

I'm just pretending the game is still in beta.

[Self]

I think this is a fair criticism. If some networks and timeslots are set up in such a way that to not get cancelled you can't feature anyone outside of the top top main eventers in your matches and angles, what is the point of having those timeslots even be available? I'm playing in the Vanilla Cornellverse, and it's kind of the same thing. I haven't gone for a prime time or even late evening show because that kind of rating is impossible outside of an isolated show.

 

I don't understand this issue. You can set how many matches 'count' towards the final grade in your product. If you choose "Main Event Focus" for matches, and "Tight Focus" for angles, only your main event and best angle count. Everything else can be filled with absolute garbage and it won't matter. Even "Regular" focus is mostly just the top two matches. So how wouldn't you be able to put lower end guys on the card?

[Makhai]

I don't understand this issue. You can set how many matches 'count' towards the final grade in your product. If you choose "Main Event Focus" for matches, and "Tight Focus" for angles, only your main event and best angle count. Everything else can be filled with absolute garbage and it won't matter. Even "Regular" focus is mostly just the top two matches. So how wouldn't you be able to put lower end guys on the card?

 

You underrate the burden of having to keep enough over guys on a card at all times to keep those ratings high enough. Especially in SE feds where breaking 75 is incredibly hard without burning through your main eventers.

[Ghost of Benji]

On TV shows of entertainment companies, angles should matter way more and count more towards the grade of the show. Angles are the main meat of TV shows, after all. A good TV show is one that builds the stories well, and hypes up the upcoming PPV. Very rarely are TV show episodes remembered fondly because of their match cards. We remember the legendary angles.

 

Angles are what make us want to watch the show next week. This way, you can save the matches involving your main eventers for the PPVs. The opposite has always been seen as bad practice anyway, so why should TEW reward you for it tbh?

[PGHJuice]

You underrate the burden of having to keep enough over guys on a card at all times to keep those ratings high enough. Especially in SE feds where breaking 75 is incredibly hard without burning through your main eventers.

 

I’m going to have to disagree heavily here.

 

I’m in October in my SWF game and my show ratings are consistently between 85-91 for both of my prime time shows.

 

I have main event spotlight and tight angle focus. Oftentimes my shows aren’t even main evented by “major stars” , but as long as I have workers in there that can put on a decent match, while using my stars and major stars for great angle ratings for at least 1-2 angles, my shows grade out tremendously while still being able to book my undercard however I please

 

Edit: For example, my last episode of SWF ELITE was main evented by ZWB (Star - 75 pop across ) vs Killer Shark (Well known - 71 pop across) and scored an 83

 

My world title feud between Angry Gilmore and Des David’s was and usually is the primary focus of this show so they had a couple killer angles in the high 90s

 

The rest of the card was used to flesh out some undercard storylines, a few squash matches, and whatever else I wanted to do to get some lowercard guys on the show

 

My show rating? 90

 

It’s almost TOO easy to get consistently good ratings this year using main event spotlight and tight focus settings.

[Remianen]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Ruthian23" data-cite="Ruthian23" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="50505" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I've never had even a single show that would qualify as an acceptable episode, and I think altogether I've seen maybe 3-4 worldwide that would meet that standard from all the promotions. It would be impossible to do that weekly unless you have several super high heat guys and ONLY feature those guys, as the original poster has had to do. If the game mechanics for a time slot that's available basically force you to abandon lower-end main eventers and upper midcarders and midcarders, I think it seems like there's a potential balance issue, or something wrong with the system.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I was going to respond to this part but PGHJuice hit the nail on the head.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="PGHJuice" data-cite="PGHJuice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="50505" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>It’s almost TOO easy to get consistently good ratings this year using main event spotlight and tight focus settings.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I thought maybe I was the only one who noticed this.</p>

[radical]

It’s almost TOO easy to get consistently good ratings this year using main event spotlight and tight focus settings.

 

Absolutely this! But even with SWFs Standard settings I very rarely get less than an 88 overall rating. With RAW I regularly crack the 90s.

 

I also think the prime time requirements are absolutely fine. It SHOULD be extremely difficult to get (and keep) the best time slot with the top broadcasters. This should also be true for the AI.

Also remember, you don't really need those slots to succeed.

 

What might be worth looking at is the broadcasters patience being modified by a companies momentum and/or reputation so that the bigger ones won't immediately get in trouble with their network even if they have a few subpar shows

[njmcfreak]

Pop growth, both for companies and workers, seems to be an issue as well.

 

I'm just pretending the game is still in beta.

 

It does seem to easy sometimes until you actually have a battle against a decent company.

[Phreak]

I am in the middle of the total wrestling war that raised the industry importance to 99. My little promotion went from small to big inside a year. However, that was done through pure will and determination of myself to not throw TEW20 through a window.

 

 

I can agree the 1 year negotiation block is a bit silly.

 

The bolded portion above I think may be the crux of your problem. You mentioned having Seth Rollins and The Rock on your roster, what does the rest of your roster look like? Surely that growth was on the back of The Rock? I can't imagine being able to actually flesh out a solid roster and be able to push those younger talents organically in that short of a time frame to the level required. Leaving you in the position where you need to keep relying on Rocky and Rollins to halfway maintain.

 

I think if you had have held yourself back as others have suggested and waited until you'd had a firmly established roster before making the jump in size and timeslot you'd find yourself in a more favourable position.

[Kalmus]

I can agree the 1 year negotiation block is a bit silly.

 

The bolded portion above I think may be the crux of your problem. You mentioned having Seth Rollins and The Rock on your roster, what does the rest of your roster look like? Surely that growth was on the back of The Rock? I can't imagine being able to actually flesh out a solid roster and be able to push those younger talents organically in that short of a time frame to the level required. Leaving you in the position where you need to keep relying on Rocky and Rollins to halfway maintain.

 

I think if you had have held yourself back as others have suggested and waited until you'd had a firmly established roster before making the jump in size and timeslot you'd find yourself in a more favourable position.

 

I have it on Main Event focuse and "consistant" angles.

 

Rollins and Rock are just my two main main guys who broke 90+ pop.

 

Other then them its CM Punk,AJ Styles,Jericho,Shawn Michaels,Edge,Kenny Omega,Nigel Mcguinness,Trish Stratus and Jon Moxley those 6 are the backbone with 79+ popularoty and about other 50 something Guys and gals on Roster.

 

People clearly do not see what my biggest issue is. And that is HOW FAST you get droped. But maybe I did not explain it well enough.

 

Your TV Ratings,your PPV numbers mean nothing.

 

If you get ever a single point below their required "rating" wwhich in my case is an 88.

 

And you do that 3 times. Does not matter if its a week a month a year or a decade.

 

You will get instantly droped. And that is just so unfair and total kick in the nuts. And then locks you out of talks with any other broadcaster for a year. And with that broadcaster for 5 years.

 

There should be like a soft spot. You get between 83 to 88 rating you are good you drop below it you get a warning 5 times and after that get forced to a later spot!

 

Thats fair! And in next 3 months if your ratings are good enough you can go back to that slot.

 

Game should also take in to account your positioning by TV Ratings compared to everything around you. And othet wrestling shows for 6 months no monday wrestling show was able to get close to us beating both impact and RAW in TV ratings each week. And once we got prime time on MTV and Mexican TV we were each monday in top 5 most watched shows on TV with a 13.75 (thats ALL channels numbers combined MTV was a 6.7 to 7 constantly) as I included the amazing Other Shows pack in to this Save

 

But it means nothing to get highest ever numbers for Wrestling TV Program as the game does not take that in to considuration its just get this number you fail 3 times you are out.