By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

TNA Impact on Wednesday, October 15 scored a 0.77 rating off a first hour 0.78 rating and second hour 0.77 rating.

It was the lowest rating since Impact's first episode on Wednesday nights back in August.

The quarter-hour ratings indicate that Impact was hurt by a weak first quarter-hour rating. Impact typically gets an artificial boost from the "Cops" lead-in on Spike TV, but Q1 opened with a 0.81 rating.

The show peaked in Q5 with a 0.84 rating at the top of the second hour, fell off the remainder of the second hour, and finished with a 0.76 rating in Q8 throwing four babyfaces together in a #1 contender match.

Impact Break Down

Q1: Impact opened with a 0.81 rating for Kurt Angle setting up the main event, plus one commercial.

Q2: Impact was about the same with a 0.80 rating for Havok vs. Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Title, plus one commercial.

Q3: Impact slipped to a 0.74 rating for an impromptu Matt Hardy vs. Magnus match and one commercial.

Q4: Impact inched up to a 0.77 rating for The Menagerie vs. Beautiful Bro-Mans in a six-person tag match, plus one commercial.

Q5: Impact increased to a show-high 0.84 rating at the top of the hour for Ethan Carter III introducing Tyrus (Brodus Clay) as his new bodyguard, plus one commercial.

Q6: Impact quickly fell back to a 0.75 rating for Tyrus squashing Shark Boy, one commercial, and video packages/backstage segments.

Q7: Impact dipped to a show-low 0.72 rating for main event ring introductions and one-and-a-half commercials.

Q8: Impact inched up to a 0.76 rating for Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Eric Young in the main event #1 contender match and half of a commercial.

Caldwell's Analysis: The main event should have drawn a better rating, but it's a classic case of subtraction by addition putting four babyfaces in a match just for the sake of it. After all, Jeff Hardy was just in a Tag Title series for two months and was suddenly thrust into a #1 contender match for a singles title. It was inefficient and Hardy should be treated as a bigger deal than being a secondary figure in a four-person match.

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