By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA Impact Wrestling on Thursday, September 8 scored a 1.02 rating, down from a 1.06 rating last week. Impact was opposed by the usual strong slate of Thursday night cable TV shows and the first NFL regular season game of the year.

Impact averaged 1.35 million viewers, down five percent compared to 1.42 million viewers last week. Impact's overall rating and viewership were tied for the lowest of the year.

On cable TV Thursday night, Impact ranked #32 overall, #17 among males 18-34, and #14 among males 18-49. Impact was expected to take a hit in the m18-49 demographic against the NFL, which resulted in a tie for the lowest m18-49 rating of the year.

-- One year ago, TNA did not offer an episode on Thursday, September 9. The week before, Impact scored a 1.04 rating on Sept. 2. The week after, Impact scored a 1.12 rating on Sept. 16.

The Sept. 2, 2010 Impact scored a 0.81 rating in males 18-49. On this year's Sept. 8 episode that scored a similar overall rating, Impact scored a 0.70 rating in m18-49.

-- The following is a look at Impact's ratings trend over the past five weeks and long-term averages.

Aug. 11: 1.07 rating
Aug. 18: 1.05 rating
Aug. 25: 1.22 rating
Sept. 1: 1.06 rating
Sept. 8: 1.02 rating

Five-Week Avg: 1.08 rating
Ten-Week Avg: 1.13 rating
2011 Avg: 1.18 rating

The 2011 average has been sliding since the end of July. On July 28, Impact was averaging a 1.20 rating for the year. The yearly average was down to a 1.19 rating in mid-August. Now averaging in the first two episodes in September, the yearly average is a 1.18 rating.

Caldwell's Analysis: Not a lot to be gleamed from the rating nearly below a 1.0 rating because of the strength of football, but it's definitely something to keep note of since TNA's audience (as well as WWE's) is prone to spending their time elsewhere on Thursday nights if there's a better option. The bottom line is the product isn't hot and isn't connecting. The issue is TNA could be generating the same rating (or showing signs of growth) with a completely different, less-expensive roster that isn't a financial strain on the company.

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