TNA has its TV deal

[Celtic Guardian 0]

(The official press release)

 

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TNA iMPACT! TO TELECAST ON SPIKE TV!

 

New York, NY (July 21, 2005) – TNA Entertainment, LLC has signed a deal with Spike TV to telecast TNA (Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling’s weekly action athletic entertainment series “iMPACT!” The weekly one-hour show will join Spike TV’s popular “Slammin’ Saturday Night” programming block starting this Fall, taping at Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL.

 

“We are thrilled to be coming to Spike TV,” said Dixie Carter, President, TNA Entertainment, LLC. “We look forward to bringing our exciting style of Total Non-stop Action and entertainment to their male viewers.”

 

The new wrestling alternative, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s iMPACT! delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, live-action athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster includes some of the most exciting and recognizable stars in wrestling today such as, Jeff Jarrett, Raven, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Abyss, Sean Waltman, Christopher Daniels, Monty Brown and others. TNA features the high-flying “X Division,” the “Six-Sided Ring,” and concept matches such as “Ultimate X,” “King of the Mountain,” and “Six Sides of Steel.”

 

TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville, TN. TNA programming is currently available in 118 countries. TNA is also available on monthly pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, Dish Network and TVN as well as Viewer’s Choice, Bell ExpressVu and Shaw PPV in Canada. The names of all Total Nonstop Action Wrestling televised programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and all TNA Wrestling logos and trademarks are exclusive property of TNA Entertainment, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information, visit www.tnawrestling.com.

 

Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 88 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

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[TNABaddboi 0]

I was hoping for a start date in the release, but I excited it's official nonetheless. It's not the 2 hour monday slot they want, but it's much better than the FSN deal in that it's going to be consistently shown (no regular pre-emptions) across the country in a slot that the wrestling audience is familar with. Velocity got crappy rating because it was a nothing show, but it did have viewers who were into workrate, and thus like to be impressed by a TNA show without a lot of names. In addition to being promoted in the Saturday night line-up, initially TNA has a chance to impress those Velocity viewers, which, will tiny compared to Raw and SD! numbers, is about double what TNA was drawing on Friday afternoons. Anyone, I'm excited for the show and let the ratings projections begin....

[Fro 0]

Saturday Nights isn't a bad slot for wrestling.

 

The Saturday Night show on TBS was the NWA and later WCW's flagship program until Nitro.

 

And of course, there's Saturday Night's Main Event for the WWF.

 

Just glad to see TNA get a deal, hopefully they do well enough for Spike to move them into a weeknight primetime alongside UFC.

[MrRant 0]

But is it a deal when you are paying for it?

[Carnival 0]

Good for TNA. Sucks that they gotta pay for it, if thats true.

 

I predict the first show gets a .4

[Astro101 0]

Finally. It is announced!

 

It does suck if TNA's paying for it, but at least they're not paying for a 3pm Friday slot. At least Saturday nights have some promise.

 

I'm very excited about this...hopefully if the ratings are good enough, they'll get an even better timeslot. But that's probably thinking a bit too far ahead.

[Dangerous A 0]

Hopefully this week's Observer will have how much TNA is paying Spike for the slot as well as how long they have this deal for. Hopefully it's around the same price or cheaper than what they were paying Fox Sports. (which I believe was around $20-$30,000 a week) At least Spike is a better network to be on as opposed to FSN. Hopefully they can build up their brand and get some ratings going so that, at some point, Spike would be willing to pay them for the show.

 

From a business standpoint, If I were TNA, I'd seriously look at stopping monthly ppv's and maybe going to a ppv every two months or so. Just because WWE can do it doesn't mean you have to. The costs for producing ppv is high and while the Carters aren't shy about losing money (22 million and counting) they should look to stop the bleeding somewhere. Figure that more people might buy a well built 2 month culmination of storylines as opposed to stuff put together sloppily (think Sacrifice) just for the sake of having something to put on ppv. Just my $0.02

[RedJed 0]

From a business standpoint, If I were TNA, I'd seriously look at stopping monthly ppv's and maybe going to a ppv every two months or so. Just because WWE can do it doesn't mean you have to. The costs for producing ppv is high and while the Carters aren't shy about losing money (22 million and counting) they should look to stop the bleeding somewhere. Figure that more people might buy a well built 2 month culmination of storylines as opposed to stuff put together sloppily (think Sacrifice) just for the sake of having something to put on ppv. Just my $0.02

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think it depends how they use Impact from October on. If its like it used to be when they are on FSN in general (usually not very noteworthy week to week and mediocre build to the ppvs) then I agree its smart to make less ppvs per year. But if they will make a consious effort to make each show "must see" then I think they could make this work. I hope they also at the same time decide to turn their (limited at this time) syndicated network into a more substantial one and have another hour show with different content avaliable each week.

 

Even if they are paying, this is much more worth a shot to spend money on versus the FSN thing. This is a very legitimate timeslot and network to get the company as a whole "over" on. If they take the Velocity timeslot, and if Spike promotes TNA in the weeks before WWE leaves Spike during commercial breaks, etc, then I think they will get a strong intial rating from it. Also add to the fact that the network is rightfully so banking on nice ratings from UFC, and this will follow that, its a very positive step forward. The rumor is that they will be in between UFC and Howard Stern. Not bad!

[Dangerous A 0]

If that rumor of TNA being in the middle of bookends like Stern and UFC are true, then I agree, it's worth the gamble to get your name out there.

 

One thing of note is they've really got to push the X Division. I'm not saying they have to make them Main Event or anything yet, but they have to at least protect them (and the tag team division as well) since those 2 things are the pluses TNA has over the WWE. Accentuate the positives, hide the negatives.

[RedJed 0]

I actually hope Jarrett will be out of the company by October but I guess I wont count on it. But that would be a large step ahead if he isn't pasted all over the program. I suppose it's possible though, isnt that first class fuck from NWA Ohio supposed to start a "national promotion" around Sept??

[snuffbox 0]

hide the negatives.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Throw a tarp over Jeff?

[Placebo Effect 0]

I'm so fucking ecstatic that this finally happened. I just hope the marks catch on and Spike TV considers giving them a better timeslot in 2006.

[justcoz 0]

Is there anything wrong with doing a replay on Monday nights at 11pm? Spike hasn't really found a good 11pm show to follow Raw as it is, although I liked some of the Lance Krall skits. I imagine they will stick to running CSI or whatever, I'm just saying, is it wrong to experiment with running the show prior to or after Raw. You have to tap the largest wrestling audience and I think Saturday nights is just doomed for 1.0 (if that) land. I can't see why something like TNA at 8pm and Ultimate Fighter at 9pm, just to f*ck with WWE is impossible. Or Ultimate Fighter at 10pm and TNA at 11pm with a movie from 8 to 10.

[AnonymousBroccoli 0]

This should mean many Canadians will be able to watch too, barring any dopey rights conflicts with the French version of Impact! on RDS.

[Fro 0]

Is there anything wrong with doing a replay on Monday nights at 11pm?  Spike hasn't really found a good 11pm show to follow Raw as it is, although I liked some of the Lance Krall skits.  I imagine they will stick to running CSI or whatever, I'm just saying, is it wrong to experiment with running the show prior to or after Raw.  You have to tap the largest wrestling audience and I think Saturday nights is just doomed for 1.0 (if that) land.  I can't see why something like TNA at 8pm and Ultimate Fighter at 9pm, just to f*ck with WWE is impossible.  Or Ultimate Fighter at 10pm and TNA at 11pm with a movie from 8 to 10.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Stuck between UFC and Stern it'll do better than a 1.0 easily.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I hope this works out for them...but mostly I hope the shows are better than the FSN ones

[Guest MikeSC]

Hopefully this week's Observer will have how much TNA is paying Spike for the slot as well as how long they have this deal for. Hopefully it's around the same price or cheaper than what they were paying Fox Sports. (which I believe was around $20-$30,000 a week) At least Spike is a better network to be on as opposed to FSN. Hopefully they can build up their brand and get some ratings going so that, at some point, Spike would be willing to pay them for the show.

I can pretty well assure you it won't be less. A channel with markedly many times more viewers won't charge less for a timeslot.

Is there anything wrong with doing a replay on Monday nights at 11pm?

Spike TV couldn't replay it without legal problems. They can't treat one infomercial differently than others --- and, while not pleasant, Impact would be an infomercial.

[MrRant 0]

You can't be an infomercial if you have commercials...

[Guest MikeSC]

If you pay for your own slot, by all definitions, you're an infomercial.

[Astro101 0]

Hmm...but I'm guessing Spike would advertise TNA. Would there be any complications with that? Advertising for an infomercial?

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

They should work on developing a good enough product to have a 2 hour show every Saturday, for the next 6 months. Then, in 6 months, have this show from 10-midnight. Then, in 1 year, move to Monday Nights, 8pm-10pm.

[TNABaddboi 0]

I think it depends how they use Impact from October on. If its like it used to be when they are on FSN in general (usually not very noteworthy week to week and mediocre build to the ppvs) then I agree its smart to make less ppvs per year. But if they will make a consious effort to make each show "must see" then I think they could make this work. I hope they also at the same time decide to turn their (limited at this time) syndicated network into a more substantial one and have another hour show with different content avaliable each week.

 

I hope they do this as well. It's be a good place to build the mid-card feuds so that the PPV has more of an "event" feel.

 

Spike TV couldn't replay it without legal problems. They can't treat one infomercial differently than others --- and, while not pleasant, Impact would be an infomercial.

 

Mike, if my memory serves me correctly, didn't FSN add 2 replays of Impact halfway through the contract? I could be wrong, but I remember reading that TNA didn't have to pay extra for those. Why couldn't that happen here?

[RedJed 0]

Yeah if they really wanted to, Spike could add replays to the TNA show at anytime, just like FSN did (FSN officially added Fri and Sat night replays back around Feb I think). If they will is another question altogether.

 

Also, on the subject of advertising within the network, that is a big question mark too and I hope TNA was smart enough to negotiate that with them. It will be key to have marketing and advertising to the max during Saturday night programming ASAP (especially within the Velocity timeslot) and also obvious other times to aim for in advertising would be within Raw's timeslot as well. I would think Spike would be acceptable to advertise TNA strong but you never know since TNA is paying for the time, but you would think as such, that means some sort of incentives like that. All I know is that they have been pimping out UFC like CRAZY and that doesnt even officially start for another month - I hope Spike does the same with TNA as one problem TNA has always had is proper advertising of their product. It would be a damn shame if Spike is making them pay for the time and then on top of it doesnt even give it a proper marketing push leading into it's debut on the station.

 

Hopefully some more detailed and technical things about the Spike deal come out soon, I'm certainly intrerested to find out.

[Guest MikeSC]

Spike will likely end up advertising TNA less than FSN did. Again, they have no real interest in their ratings improving as their ad revenues won't increase due to it since they don't keep the money. I do wish TNA well --- and I do hope they sold advertising with realistic audience projections.

[Ripper 0]

I would just air X division and Aj Styles matches for the first month just to get a audience.

[TNABaddboi 0]

Spike will likely end up advertising TNA less than FSN did. Again, they have no real interest in their ratings improving as their ad revenues won't increase due to it since they don't keep the money. I do wish TNA well --- and I do hope they sold advertising with realistic audience projections.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Keller reported yesterday that Spike would have a stake in the advertising because they'd be selling based on the Saturday Night block and not just TNA to basically work the advertisers. So though the specifics haven't come out yet, I don't think this is exactly the same deal as FSN, where they just paid for the time and hoped to recoup on ads. We'll have to wait until we know more though...

[Guest MikeSC]

I would just air X division and Aj Styles matches for the first month just to get a audience.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[JJ]But I'm the draw[/JJ]

[TNABaddboi 0]

PWInsider is reporting that Spike only sent their press release about the show to wrestling media. Here's what Mike Johnson posted:

 

Hopefully this isn't a sign that the TNA-Spike TV relationship is going to mirror the old TNN-ECW relationship, but it's interesting to note that nearly 24 hours after Spike TV sent out press releases to PWInsider.com and other wrestling-related outlets, the network have yet to issue the announcement that TNA is coming to Spike through their normal media channels. Back when ECW aired on TNN in 1999-2000, Paul Heyman would routinely be driven insane by the network only promoting the show with commercials during the ECW telecast, using the excuse, "That's where your demographic is" as their reasoning for not trying to expand viewership on their end. It should be noted that there were a lot of other issues that caused Heyman and TNN (which morphed into Spike TV) to BUTT heads regularly, some of which were caused by Heyman, but not all. The bottom line in 2005 is that if TNA on Spike TV is going to succeed, they need Spike to be a partner in every sense of the word, not just an outlet slapping the tape on the air. Call me pessimistic, but this was already a telling sign in my eyes that TNA officials need to be sure they aren't walking into the same situation that assisted ECW's spiral to oblivion. TNA is investing in their company's life and need to make sure that they are getting back what they are putting into it, or all is lost. Spike TV is going to need to do more than send emails out to wrestling sites that are already well aware of TNA's existence. If there aren't regular commercials on UFC and Raw promoting TNA's debut starting this week, things are not getting things off on the right foot at all and I don't think anyone wants to see another ECW on TNN in the long run.

 

I certainly hope this was just a mix up in the rush to get the release out...but time will tell. Here's some other unrelated news from Johnson:

 

Former ECW champion Rhino (back to the old ECW spelling since WWE owns the copyright on the "Rhyno" name) has officially signed a deal with TNA.

 

TNA has copyrighted the name "Kip James" for Billy Gunn/The Outlaw. They have also trademarked "The James Gang" which I guess will be his tag team if he and BG James do reunite.

 

TNA has also copyrighted the name "Unbreakable", which will be the title of a future PPV event.

 

It's good that Rhino's officially signed, but I don't think that was in doubt. That's a stupid name for the Outlaws though. Wow...TNA is horrible at repacking people. And I believe Unbreakable will September's PPV.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'm not big on Rhino (he's been pretty brutal since his neck injury). And I still wish TNA well, but I TNA would be well-advised to plan on virtually no support from Spike.

[Fro 0]

I assume Spike will send out a release announcing their Saturday Night lineup at a later date.

 

Doubt we see much mainstream stuff from them until September.