By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA Impact on Thursday, March 3 scored a 1.37 overall rating, with a first hour 1.32 rating and second hour 1.41 rating.

Impact peaked in Q1 with a 1.52 rating to start the show with Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, Immortal, and Fortune setting the stage for the show.

Impact then hit its low point of a 1.17 rating in Q4 within the same first hour.

The over-run from 11:00 to 11:10 p.m. EST scored the second-highest rating of the show with a 1.48. Outside of the over-run, the second hour contained the other two most-watched segments of the show in Q6 and Q8.

First Hour Break Down

-Impact opened with a 1.52 rating in Q1 for the Final Verdict segment featuring Hulk Hogan's TV return.

-After the strong opening, Impact dropped to a 1.26 rating in Q2, which featured two commercial breaks, Bart Scott's backstage brawl with Fortune, and the first-half of the TNA Tag Title match.

-Impact rebounded slightly to a 1.32 rating in Q3 for the second-half of Beer Money vs. Gunner & Murphy, the Jarrets backstage, and Velvet Sky vs. Sarita.

-Impact hit the lowest point of the show in Q4 with a 1.17 rating for the post-match Knockouts vs. Shore promo exchange, more backstage segments, and two commercial breaks.

Second Hour Break Down

-Impact rebounded to a 1.36 rating in Q5 for Take 1 of the Jarrett wedding ceremony, one commercial, and the first-half of Scott Steiner vs. Rob Terry.

The fifth quarter-hour was the lowest-rated segment of the second hour, but it was coming off a 1.17 rating in Q4.

-Impact grew to a 1.43 rating in Q6 for the second-half of Steiner-Terry, more backstage segments involving Immortal, and the Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez match.

Outside of the over-run, Q6 was the highest-rated segment of the second hour and scored the second-highest quarter-hour rating of the show behind Q1.

-Impact slipped to a 1.37 in Q7 for more Immortal backstage, one commercial, and the first-half of the Jarrett wedding ceremony Take 2.

-Impact finished the second hour on an upswing with a 1.42 rating in Q8 for the complete Jarrett wedding ceremony, Jeff Hardy backstage, and one commercial.

-The ten-minute over-run scored a 1.48 rating with Sting's surprise return that was built up throughout the show and Sting's subsequent TNA Title victory over Jeff Hardy.

Overall, over the course of the final 70 minutes of the show, Impact started at 1.36, grew to a 1.43, dropped to a 1.37, then grew to a 1.42 (the two ups and downs virtually canceled each other out), and finished with a 1.48.

Caldwell's Analysis: It will be interesting to see how Impact performs next week, which is the key to the story with TNA until they prove they can sustain an audience over the long haul rather than "popping a short-term rating" before the number goes back down to the 1.1 ratings level. There are solid, positive trends in the quarter-hour this week, though, which should give TNA some confidence going forward.

On this week's show, TNA utilized an effective TV template for building to a main event match/segment throughout the show. Obviously, they can't deliver a "surprise return" every week like Sting, but the goal should be to entice the audience with a solid main event that's promoted throughout the show and brings the episode to its culmination, where TNA can promote a "big story" they want the audience to take away from the show.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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