By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

The Main Event Mafia group was assembled in October 2008 to unite TNA's top heels when storylines were not clear on the various motivations of each wrestler, such as Mafia leader Kurt Angle.

Creating the MEM group cleared up the picture and gave TNA a new marketing tool to promote their TV product on Thursday nights. But, what kind of ratings difference can be attributed to the group's formation and heavy influence on each week's TNA Impact show?

Since the group's official formation on the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA Impact from Las Vegas, Impact ratings have been up 13.4 percent compared to the comparable time period prior to the group's formation.

For comparison purposes, we're looking at the time period from when Impact first went to two hours on October 4, 2007 until the group was formed about one year later. The average rating from Oct. 4, 2007 to Oct. 16, 2008 was a 1.04. The average rating from Oct. 23, 2008 (when the group was formed) until the July 30, 2009 episode of Impact was a 1.18.

In less than a year, Impact's ratings have increased a healthy 13.4 percent to go along with a comparable increase of 15.6 percent in estimated TV viewers.

The most important figure when it comes to grabbing advertisers to sponsor the TV product, such as Stacker 2, is the males 18-34 demographic. TNA has clearly drawn more key male viewers to the product in the past nine months, which should make potential advertisers more aware of the TNA Impact product.

In the pre-MEM formation period, TNA averaged a 0.71 weekly rating in the males 18-34 demographic. Since the MEM was formed in October 2008, the demographic rating has increased 21 percent to a weekly average of 0.86.

TV Ratings difference
-- Oct. 4, 2007 to Oct. 16, 2008: 1.04 average rating
-- Oct. 23, 2008 to July 30, 2009: 1.18 average rating
-- Ratings up 13.4 percent

TV Viewers difference
-- Oct. 4, 2007 to Oct. 16, 2008: 1.42 million avg. viewers per show
-- Oct. 23, 2008 to July 30, 2009: 1.64 million avg. viewers
-- Viewers up 15.6 percent

Males 18-34 difference
-- Oct. 4, 2007 to Oct. 16, 2008: 0.71 demo rating
-- Oct. 23, 2008 to July 30, 2009: 0.86 demo rating
-- Ratings up 21.0 percent

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