Guest CoreyLazarus416 Posted February 20, 2003 Report Posted February 20, 2003 Man who cancelled WCW canned... by Bryan Alvarez [email protected] Figure Four Weekly JAMIE KELLNER OUT OF AOL/TW This doesn’t sound like a wrestling story, but it really is. If you want to blame one person for the death of World Championship Wrestling and the current state of the business today, you could arguably blame Jamie Kellner. We'll tell you who he is and what role he played in setting up what has become a very dismal US wrestling scene today. Also, a Brief History of the Death of WCW, and whether Kellner's departure could open the door to TNA getting national TV on TNN or TBS. Credit: Wrestling Observer Hmmmm...
Astro101 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 Did he mean to say TNT instead of TNN?
Guest j.o.b. squad Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 How is the fact that the man that had the compasion to pull the plup on that crappy show getting leaving mean tna is going to get a tv deal. Dont you think that there was more than one man who noticed that the show was incredibaly expensive and was pulling crappy ratings. if it wasent him there were dozens in line for the job of killing off that lameduck.
Guest Tony149 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 Believe it or not, WCW's ratings weren't that bad. They weren't as high as the WWF's, but they were respectable for cable. I think WCW shows were still the highest or one of the highest rated shows on the Turner networks. If anything finally killed WCW, it was the Time Warner merger with AOL. Once that happened, the bullseye was on WCW as AOL was looking to cut cost.
Guest bps "The Truth" 21 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 Once Turner was out of the way this guy cut off wrestling...despite the fact that I am almost positive it drew better ratings for the important teen demographic than anything else on Turner networks.
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 2.6 was Nitro's regular rating. That's still higher than most of TNT's current programming. And costs could have been cut by renting out smaller venues, and not having as much money dedicated to contracts (but still enough to cover medical and travelling) and cutting back on needless icing (pyro, Nitro girls, CERTAIN WRESTLERS). Nitro was, to me, more entertaining than Raw in early 2001 and late 2000. Especially with the kickass-ity of 3Count... Mmmmm...3Count... And how does it mean TNA could possibly get a TV deal? Ted Turner is still a wrestling fan. The main man against wrestling being on the networks has just been removed. So, top company guy that likes wrestling + company that will do anything for a buck - president against wrestling being on TV networks = possibility of a return of wrestling to Turner networks.
Guest treble charged Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 And, if Dusty Rhodes is on TNT Monday nights, all the college chicks will watch.
Guest bob_barron Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 Ted Turner has nothing to do with the Turner networks anymore
Guest RedJed Posted February 21, 2003 Report Posted February 21, 2003 Ted Turner has nothing to do with the Turner networks anymore Thats not true, he still has stroke in his networks that he built in the first place........its just a much larger ball that is being tossed around so to speak nowadays. Where did you hear this that he has nothing to do with TBS or TNT?
Guest Gary Busey Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 Ted Turner stepped down from Time Warner recently because the AOL merger has completely destroyed the company. He literally lost billions of dollars since the value of the stock has dropped so much and if I remember correctly, he is selling off all of his assets within the company. Word was even going around that AOL/TW might sell off CNN or one of the other channels to cut costs. They recently posted a roughly 1 trillion dollar loss, something that had never happened before anywhere. The whole thing is sinking. CNN says "Ted Turner stepping down" Forbes says "Turner Shocks By Stepping Down"
Guest geniusMoment Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 Didn't TBS and TNT sign a no compete clause with WWE when they sold WCW.
Guest j.o.b. squad Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 Didn't TBS and TNT sign a no compete clause with WWE when they sold WCW. a no compete clause only lasts for a set amount of time. i woude think since it happened over a year ago that it has expired by now. and aol time warner signed it not tbs and tnt.
Guest Gary Busey Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 Didn't TBS and TNT sign a no compete clause with WWE when they sold WCW. a no compete clause only lasts for a set amount of time. i woude think since it happened over a year ago that it has expired by now. and aol time warner signed it not tbs and tnt. I believe the no compete clause was for something like 5 years or so. It was a fairly extended amount of time to make sure Ted couldn't buy up another promotion and start again. It doesn't matter if AOL/TW signed it, their stations would have to follow it. The WWE legal team would have made it pretty bulletproof so none of the arms of the AOL/TW family could broadcast wrestling. Besides, the "high brow" attitude of the then mangement means they gave the WWE everything they asked for just to unload WCW. I don't forsee AOL/TW (or it's "children" companies) getting wrestling back, unless it's a desperation move. They paid high dollar amounts for Law & Order to get exclusive replay rights over A&E, and they show that damn near everynight from basically 6-10 PM (give or take). That's the entertainment they want-- high quality high drama shows. Remember how hey got rid of wrestling because it wasn't high class enough for their new "We Know Drama" image? It's not coming back anytime soon.
syxx2001 Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 unless they hire some guy out of hollywood to write the storylines for their new start up company.
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 Or unless they just find a GOOD WRESTLING PROMOTION.
Guest NoSelfWorth Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 Turner networks are unable to broadcast any wrestling shows until 2005. NWA:TNA will be dead long before then.
Guest Mad Dog Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 ::Yawns:: Haven't you got tired of saying the same thing since last June? The fact that they have Vader who's a pretty high priced wrestler shows the kind of money flow they have.
Astro101 Posted February 22, 2003 Report Posted February 22, 2003 I'm tired of all the TNA doubters...they look to be doing very well and they have a company backing them up in finances. They just need a TV deal...
Guest Kotzenjunge Posted February 23, 2003 Report Posted February 23, 2003 Still, the naysayers have a bit of a point. It really is still just as insane of a venture every week as it was the previous week to have it on PPV-only, and if buys start to dip, the Panda Corporation could get upset at contributing to a money trap and withdraw their backing. Then what? Seriously, a few straight weeks of very low buyrates could kill them.
Guest NoSelfWorth Posted February 23, 2003 Report Posted February 23, 2003 WCW had a higher "money flow" than NWA:TNA, and they died. Panda are flushing money down the toilet. If Panda hadn't come along, Jerry Jarrett was going to fold the promotion. The second that Panda wise up, and pull out, wave bye bye to NWA:TNA.
Guest Mad Dog Posted February 23, 2003 Report Posted February 23, 2003 Yeah but WCW was losing tons of money. With a federation as small as TNA you can tell how they're doing financially by who's showing up on their shows. Remember when they were having money trouble in August? Well they had low priced guys there. And there are lots of networks out there. Someone's going to want the ratings and low cost wrestling brings.
Guest NoSelfWorth Posted February 23, 2003 Report Posted February 23, 2003 Wrestling may get good ratings, but it doesn't bring in the advertising revenue comensurate to those ratings.
Guest nikowwf Posted February 25, 2003 Report Posted February 25, 2003 Whoever said that misspoke, as TNT and TBS have a no compete clause with the WWF through 2006 as part of the WCW purchase. Not saying NWA can't get on TV, just not on TNT or TBS niko
Guest Pegasus Kid Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 WCW had a higher "money flow" than NWA:TNA, and they died. Panda are flushing money down the toilet. If Panda hadn't come along, Jerry Jarrett was going to fold the promotion. The second that Panda wise up, and pull out, wave bye bye to NWA:TNA. *sigh* there's a big difference between a company that is breaking even (TNA at this point) and a company that was literally losing tens of millions of dollars. At this point, Panda has an investment and is seeing if it'll grow or not. They have no reason to pull out of a venture that's breaking even and (as has been the case with TNA) is growing. I would figure FOX if anyone will pick up TNA. It may be in a poor slot but they would at least be making money. On a side note to the person who pimped Vader. I doubt they're paying him much at all. He's actually supposed to be home resting his knee after being injured on the last NOAH tour. They probably got him dirty cheap for a couple of appearances. They didn't really need Vader and dropping a ton of money on a man who's way passed his prime and who's name barely holds any water to the masses doesn't make much sense.
Guest NoSelfWorth Posted February 27, 2003 Report Posted February 27, 2003 Vader is gone from NOAH. The knee injury was a work. NWA:TNA's deal with Direct TV comes up in June, and it's not known if Direct will renew it.
Guest lapola2k3 Posted February 27, 2003 Report Posted February 27, 2003 i hope so i'm studying overseas my brother and my cuzin send me tapes,anyway so..... but serioulsly i don't see them getting tv unless they're bring in good ppv buys so they cud go show to a network and final buys numbers don't come in till 1year later so if i were them i wouldn't put too much hope in that and just try to get a renawal on a ppv deal.
Guest Pegasus Kid Posted February 27, 2003 Report Posted February 27, 2003 Vader is gone from NOAH. The knee injury was a work. NWA:TNA's deal with Direct TV comes up in June, and it's not known if Direct will renew it. From last week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter: "Foreigners on the tour are Too Cold Scorpio, Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan, Bison Smith and Superstar Steve. Vader is still out due to knee problems and his absense makes a big difference." I'm pretty sure Meltzer would have picked up on whether it was a work or not. Remember Vader doesn't have to work the harder NOAH style while in TNA. They basically had him hit a few big shots and the rest of the time he stood on the apron during the show last night. As for the TV deal, I thought that was only In Demand who had the contact coming up. Please note I"m in Canada and I was under the impression that In Demand and DirecTV were two different entities.
Guest nikowwf Posted February 27, 2003 Report Posted February 27, 2003 Melzter mentioned this week that Vader leaving Noah was mysterious. My friend in Japan said they don't expect Vader back. Just what I heard... I dont see why Direct TV would not renew them....but i dont understand 100% how that works. Id think for a regular weekly thing, the about 3k or buys they pull in is not so bad. (Remember, DTV is only about 20% of the ppv universe) my thinking is that TV is a double edged sword...yes it COULD make them into a major player. It also could force them to spend more money than they can afford, and if the TV drops off it could be the end of them. So im not so sure that id be in a hurry to get them on TV.
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