-- First Hour Breakdown
-- Second Hour Breakdown
-- Third Hour Breakdown

By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

-- The big story to track from the third hour of Impact was that the 22-minute Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles match opened with more viewers than it closed with. However, the match held up well considering the final portion of the match was against WWE Raw's final segment with Bret Hart and Vince McMahon.

Styles-Angle opened with 2.54 million viewers at 10:36 p.m. while Raw was at a commercial break. At 10:39, Impact went to a commercial, then came back at 10:43 p.m. with 2.37 million viewers before building the audience back to 2.46 million viewers at 10:45 p.m.

From 10:45 p.m. to the match's conclusion at 10:58 p.m., the match averaged 2.05 million viewers. The low-end was 1.65 million viewers at 10:55 p.m. during a commercial break. The high-end was 2.34 million viewers at 10:53 p.m. when Raw was at a commercial break prior to the McMahon-Hart confrontation.

The finish of the match at 10:58 averaged 2.06 million viewers, which was above the average for the final 13 minutes. The audience also jumped 65 percent from 1.25 million viewers at 10:57 p.m. to 2.09 million viewers at 10:58 p.m., reflecting strong interest in the finish.

Conclusion: The final minutes of the match were down compared to the beginning of the match, but viewers were captivated to watch the immediate finish of the match.

-- After the Angle-Styles match hit 2.09 million viewers at 10:58 p.m., the audience level dropped to an average of 1.90 million viewers for the final five minutes of post-match hoopla, Hulk Hogan's appearance, and Hogan watching Mick Foley's beat down from the re-formed NWO.

-- The ninth quarter-hour (10:00 to 10:15 p.m.) featured the infamous Jeff Jarrett promo and Hulk Hogan's involvement opposite the end of DX vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show on Raw.

TNA's segment held up well with average viewership of 2.07 million viewers during their eight minutes. Daniels's interview that immediately followed at 10:09 p.m. dropped off a cliff, though, to 1.19 million viewers (43 percent decline).

-- The third hour of Impact featured the least-watched two minutes of the entire show during a commercial break at 10:23 and 10:24 p.m. when WWE had Sheamus cutting a promo before Evan Bourne interrupted. Apparently some fans were flipping over looking for John Cena in this spot.

THIRD HOUR QUARTER-HOUR BREAKDOWN:
Q9 - 1.17 (Second-least watched 15 minutes of the show with a strong first eight minutes and very weak final seven minutes.)
Q10 - 1.21 (Good interest in Samoa Joe vs. Abyss.)
Q11 - 1.19 (Two commercials - one before Angle-Styles and one during Angle-Styles - dragged down the ratings.)
Q12 - 1.30 (The show spiked at 10:45 mid-way through Angle-Styles, then 10:53 with Raw on commercial, 10:58 for the finish, and 11:01 p.m. for Foley running into strip poker.)

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