By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Last night's episode of TNA Impact dipped below the 1.00 rating benchmark following the 1.15 rating for last week's "Whole F'n Show" episode.

We don't have the official TV rating yet. Impact was out of the Top 50 among cable TV programs last night and the lowest-rated show in the Top 50 chart was a 0.98 rating.

Looking at the target audience ratings, Impact's demographic ratings among males 18-34 and 18-49 were the lowest in five weeks.

Impact scored a 0.71 rating among both key male demographics. Last week's show scored a 0.88 rating among m18-49 and a 0.83 rating among m18-34.

In addition to losing older male viewers, Impact's rating among teenage males dropped nearly 30 percent. Impact scored a 0.85 rating among males 12-17, compared to a 1.19 rating in the demo last week.

Looking at competition on cable TV last night, MTV's "Jersey Shore" hit a series high in the adult demographic, but USA Network's scripted shows on Thursday nights were down slightly in total viewers.

The following is a review of the last ten weeks capturing Impact's ratings this week returning to the previous level from June.

June 17 - 0.99 rating
June 24 - 0.98 rating
July 1 - 0.99 rating
July 8 - 1.14 rating
July 15 - 1.09 rating
July 22 - 1.06 rating
July 29 - 1.22 rating
Aug. 5 - 1.21 rating
Aug. 12 - 1.15 rating
Aug. 19 - below 0.98 rating

Caldwell's Analysis: Not a good sign for TNA trying to follow up on the "Whole F'n Show" last week. The show featured "established stars" involved in key segments taking up the majority of focused TV time involved in programs that have little steam behind them, the beginning of a rapid-fire tournament with short, inconsequential matches, the continuation of EV2.0 featured throughout Impact, and disproportionate focus on younger stars on the roster, best exemplified by only a brief video package on Motor City Machineguns, who drew strong quarter-hour ratings throughout the recent tag title series with Beer Money.

The conclusion isn't that TNA should shift exclusively to featuring younger stars, but that if the "established stars" are going to be utilized on TV, they need to be involved in segments that actually carry a sense of importance and are actually leading somewhere to make money for TNA or build the audience's interest in the TV product. That simply isn't the case with TNA's TV product.

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