Post by Deleted on May 25, 2021 15:40:04 GMT -5
Here's the bit from the Observer regarding the move to TBS. It's a lot to read.
Due to a number of reasons, the key one being TNT picking up the NHL, WarnerMedia will be moving AEW Dynamite and Rampage to TBS starting in January.
After negotiations that went very quickly, so quickly that the television situation in key foreign markets like the U.K. and Canada were not settled, a series of deals were put into place.
The main show, Dynamite, will continue to run 8-10 p.m. on Wednesdays, but be moved from TNT to TBS. AEW received an eight figure fee increase to move the show since the prior contract called for it being on TNT through the end of 2023. It is believed the new deal for the complete package was not extended from the original deal.
Rampage, the second show, will debut on Friday nights from 10-11 p.m. on TNT on 8/13, and also be moved to TBS in January.
Rampage will generally be taped on Wednesday nights but there will be special Friday night live tapings on PPV weeks. It appears they will run in the city they are doing the PPV in. For example, on 11/5, it was already announced for a taping at the Chaifetz Center in St. Louis, and Full Gear will be in the same building on 11/6.
Right now the plan is a mix of all tapings for Dynamite, Rampage, Dark Elevation and Dark some weeks being on Wednesdays, and some weeks splitting up tapings on Wednesdays and Fridays.
In addition, AEW will remain on TNT for four special events per year, said to be formatted similar to WCW’s old Clash of the Champions or Saturday Night’s Main Events when it was a big deal in the 80s. Since WWE owns the Clash of the Champions name, the live specials will give the company four new destination dates per year, will have another name.
As far as what this all means, the combination of the new show, and the quarterly specials will increase the company’s television rights fees significantly, which is the key revenue driver of the company.
The move from TNT to TBS is largely on paper a lateral move. Both channels have similar ratings. TNT is considered a higher prestige station due to the NBA and movies, but if you factor out the NBA, TBS actually draws higher numbers for regular programming both overall and in 18-49. TBS is in slightly more homes but that difference is negligible. As a general rule, AEW will be getting better lead-ins on TBS. TNT as a general rule gets higher ad rates because of the prestige of the NBA, and another significant revenue source of AEW is that it gets a split of ad revenue, unlike WWE, from its original deal, although the new deal would be far more lucrative overall to compensate if that ad revenue drops slightly.
In theory, it should take time to acclimate the two shows to a new station and no doubt AEW will have to put on a blockbuster week for the first week of the year to establish the new channel.
From a booking standpoint, this is a positive because the company now has four major destination events per year, as well as themed Dynamite episodes, so the gap between the major shows isn’t as long. It forces more booking of top tier cards and there won’t be lulls in the period where you do a lot of teases that people don’t see to start building a big show before the last few weeks of key promotion.
The other positive is with the new deal there will be significantly less preemptions for both shows, which were going to happen with the NBA and NHL on TNT, particularly during the playoffs. AEW, starting next week, will be bouncing around until TNT’s schedule with NBA playoffs are over. The belief is that there will be way fewer if any preemptions on TBS.
From a promotional standpoint, the reality is during the company’s key property, which is the NBA, they promote the TBS original shows hard, so AEW will continue a similar level of promotion between TBS and TNT.
It also increases weekly content, which has become a big factor, and also makes the company more valuable because of the number of hours of content it will be producing, when its deals come due. The negative, since AEW is not WWE as considered the name brand in the industry, is that while WWE can survive big ratings drops, AEW would not survive that level of drop as well. By adding more programming, you are likely to have some drops. The Friday night at 10 p.m. show based on its time slot and it being the B show, is not going to do close to Wednesday ratings. Khan said that quality wise it won’t be a B show and that it would be the same quality as Dynamite. But ratings wise, it will be very tough because the AEW audience is so heavily male 35-49 in particular, and 18-49 overall, and Friday night at 10 p.m. is a brutal time slot for a show with an audience so heavily concentrated in a demo that such a high percentage go out on Fridays. The positive of the time slot in theory is that there is a WWE audience of around two million fans, far more older and far more spread out, that are watching wrestling already from 8-10 p.m. There is something to that but I’m not sure how large a Smackdown to AEW crossover will be. Still, there are limited options as you’re really limited to Tuesday or Friday, since Monday and Thursday are NFL nights and Khan made it clear he won’t put TV against the NFL.
The big specials on TNT, right now the date and times are not confirmed, nor is a first date confirmed past they will be quarterly in 2022. According to those close to the situation, the sides are still working on a first date.
TNT actually asked for AEW to run three hours on Wednesday, from 8-11 p.m., when negotiating the new deal that was signed in January 2020. Because of what happened to Raw, which, while being three hours made it a very valuable television property, it’s also too long, Khan and Kevin Reilly made the deal for a third hour in prime time on Friday night at 10 p.m., that was going to debut by the end of the year. But the pandemic slowed everything down. AEW would have gotten higher ratings in hour three on Wednesday with the captive audience than they will for a Friday show, but from a quality standpoint, it is easier for fans to watch a two hour and a one hour show and be entertained than it is with a three hour show. It is a short-term thing that makes it more expensive for AEW, but won’t lead to exhausting fans and then whittling away the audience like happened with Raw.
Khan said regarding the company’s secondary title, the TNT championship, “My plan is to keep that TNT title but I have a different Turner idea I think is cool.”
The wrestling atmosphere is very different today than in the 80s, when both Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of Champions flourished in the ratings. At that time, the regular television was mostly squash matches and getting to see arena main events on television was special. Now, you get arena main events on prime time television every weeknight and special events streaming or on television on most weekends. You can literally put on the mach of the year and a few days later people have moved past it to the next big thing.
When WWE revived Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC from 2006 to 2008, the shows did not do well ratings-wise, because people were used to seeing live Raw weekly as their major weekly show. What that says is, with Dynamite being what it is, just putting on very good marquee matches with some build alone won’t make the new TNT specials successful, and they literally have to be like close to PPV quality specials.
Another key aspect in wrestling is that with every action by AEW, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Adding a second show on Friday at 10 p.m., if this was one year ago, you could immediately say the reaction. Because of the nature of the FOX schedule, you couldn’t add a third hour of Smackdown (if it was Friday night on USA it would be a given that would be the reaction). The reaction 100 percent would have been adding a third hour of the show but on FS 1. Friday at 10 p.m. has always been the time slot for the second show, and it was a given how it would have played out, with WWE going to FS 1 for hour three since it costs them very little extra to do a third live hour and it would draw much better than FS 1 could do almost every week in the time slot. If this doesn’t happen, it’s because of exactly what could have happened one year ago.
If AEW on TNT on Friday at 10 p.m. went head-to-head with hour three of Smackdown on FS 1, there is a very big risk AEW wins that battle. If you look at network vs. cable differential, what AEW does on cable in 18-49 was largely as impressive with head-to-head competition with what Smackdown does on Friday because of the inherent network advantage. Now, without competition, that has shown it’s more pronounced. TNT or later TBS vs. FS 1 gives AEW the stronger station advantage. Perhaps WWE using the name brand Smackdown could win overall viewers in hour three even though it would probably lose in 18-49. But it becomes a big perception risk of once again starting that fight, using the name brand Smackdown, and even if being close, let alone losing again. For that reason, while it still could happen, it’s not the sure thing reaction that it would have been one year ago. The idea of moving 205 Live, which WWE has broadcast in that time slot for years, to USA (which would no doubt have complications) or FS 1, would be foolish because that would be a sure loss for WWE. The political nature of spending two hours of Smackdown to build a main event for hour three on FS 1 has its issues, but any other way of programming as competition in that time slot would not fare well.
Still, history tells us there will be, in some form, a reaction.
“Both TBS and TNT have an incredibly storied past with wrestling so for us being able to put more AEW onto TBS was a natural fit,” said Brett Weitz, General Manager of TBS, TNT and truTV during a press call about the change. “ For me, being able to program these networks as a portfolio gives me the latitude to put them where it makes most sense for the consumer. Did the NHL have anything to do with it? Sure. The NBA had something to do with it, we felt TBS had an opportunity to be the best platform for expansion.”
Weitz was asked if the Turner Networks would make a bid for the WWE franchise when its deals with NBCU and FOX expire in 2024. He indicated being happy to stay exclusive with AEW.
“We are delivering to our wrestling audience,” he said. “More wrestling is better for wrestling fans.”
There was also a unique historically-based quote from Sam Linsky, the Associate General Manager and Senior Vice President of Programming and Operations of TBS, TNT and truTV, saying, “It’s a pleasure to be able to help Tony Khan expand his wrestling fiefdom across our networks and bring more content to our fans that fits the thrill ride brand of TNT and good time of TBS. It’s Wednesday. You know what that means.”
The term fiefdom, like blood and guts, comes from a 1991 Sports Illustrated quote when Vince McMahon dismissed TBS’ World Championship Wrestling and the rest of the business.
“In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge,” said McMahon. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords.”
“As a lifelong wrestling aficionado who is privileged to present AEW to longtime and new fans alike, it means a lot to me, personally and professionally, to share the news that All Elite Wrestling will call TBS home beginning in 2022,” said Tony Khan. “The history of wrestling in the United States cannot be told without acknowledging the contributions of TBS, which as WTBS years ago delivered wrestling to the Southeast and eventually to a massive national audience. TBS has the same passion for wrestling today, but will offer AEW and our fans more prime time programming, content and global opportunities that will establish TBS as the world’s undisputed destination for wrestling.”
After negotiations that went very quickly, so quickly that the television situation in key foreign markets like the U.K. and Canada were not settled, a series of deals were put into place.
The main show, Dynamite, will continue to run 8-10 p.m. on Wednesdays, but be moved from TNT to TBS. AEW received an eight figure fee increase to move the show since the prior contract called for it being on TNT through the end of 2023. It is believed the new deal for the complete package was not extended from the original deal.
Rampage, the second show, will debut on Friday nights from 10-11 p.m. on TNT on 8/13, and also be moved to TBS in January.
Rampage will generally be taped on Wednesday nights but there will be special Friday night live tapings on PPV weeks. It appears they will run in the city they are doing the PPV in. For example, on 11/5, it was already announced for a taping at the Chaifetz Center in St. Louis, and Full Gear will be in the same building on 11/6.
Right now the plan is a mix of all tapings for Dynamite, Rampage, Dark Elevation and Dark some weeks being on Wednesdays, and some weeks splitting up tapings on Wednesdays and Fridays.
In addition, AEW will remain on TNT for four special events per year, said to be formatted similar to WCW’s old Clash of the Champions or Saturday Night’s Main Events when it was a big deal in the 80s. Since WWE owns the Clash of the Champions name, the live specials will give the company four new destination dates per year, will have another name.
As far as what this all means, the combination of the new show, and the quarterly specials will increase the company’s television rights fees significantly, which is the key revenue driver of the company.
The move from TNT to TBS is largely on paper a lateral move. Both channels have similar ratings. TNT is considered a higher prestige station due to the NBA and movies, but if you factor out the NBA, TBS actually draws higher numbers for regular programming both overall and in 18-49. TBS is in slightly more homes but that difference is negligible. As a general rule, AEW will be getting better lead-ins on TBS. TNT as a general rule gets higher ad rates because of the prestige of the NBA, and another significant revenue source of AEW is that it gets a split of ad revenue, unlike WWE, from its original deal, although the new deal would be far more lucrative overall to compensate if that ad revenue drops slightly.
In theory, it should take time to acclimate the two shows to a new station and no doubt AEW will have to put on a blockbuster week for the first week of the year to establish the new channel.
From a booking standpoint, this is a positive because the company now has four major destination events per year, as well as themed Dynamite episodes, so the gap between the major shows isn’t as long. It forces more booking of top tier cards and there won’t be lulls in the period where you do a lot of teases that people don’t see to start building a big show before the last few weeks of key promotion.
The other positive is with the new deal there will be significantly less preemptions for both shows, which were going to happen with the NBA and NHL on TNT, particularly during the playoffs. AEW, starting next week, will be bouncing around until TNT’s schedule with NBA playoffs are over. The belief is that there will be way fewer if any preemptions on TBS.
From a promotional standpoint, the reality is during the company’s key property, which is the NBA, they promote the TBS original shows hard, so AEW will continue a similar level of promotion between TBS and TNT.
It also increases weekly content, which has become a big factor, and also makes the company more valuable because of the number of hours of content it will be producing, when its deals come due. The negative, since AEW is not WWE as considered the name brand in the industry, is that while WWE can survive big ratings drops, AEW would not survive that level of drop as well. By adding more programming, you are likely to have some drops. The Friday night at 10 p.m. show based on its time slot and it being the B show, is not going to do close to Wednesday ratings. Khan said that quality wise it won’t be a B show and that it would be the same quality as Dynamite. But ratings wise, it will be very tough because the AEW audience is so heavily male 35-49 in particular, and 18-49 overall, and Friday night at 10 p.m. is a brutal time slot for a show with an audience so heavily concentrated in a demo that such a high percentage go out on Fridays. The positive of the time slot in theory is that there is a WWE audience of around two million fans, far more older and far more spread out, that are watching wrestling already from 8-10 p.m. There is something to that but I’m not sure how large a Smackdown to AEW crossover will be. Still, there are limited options as you’re really limited to Tuesday or Friday, since Monday and Thursday are NFL nights and Khan made it clear he won’t put TV against the NFL.
The big specials on TNT, right now the date and times are not confirmed, nor is a first date confirmed past they will be quarterly in 2022. According to those close to the situation, the sides are still working on a first date.
TNT actually asked for AEW to run three hours on Wednesday, from 8-11 p.m., when negotiating the new deal that was signed in January 2020. Because of what happened to Raw, which, while being three hours made it a very valuable television property, it’s also too long, Khan and Kevin Reilly made the deal for a third hour in prime time on Friday night at 10 p.m., that was going to debut by the end of the year. But the pandemic slowed everything down. AEW would have gotten higher ratings in hour three on Wednesday with the captive audience than they will for a Friday show, but from a quality standpoint, it is easier for fans to watch a two hour and a one hour show and be entertained than it is with a three hour show. It is a short-term thing that makes it more expensive for AEW, but won’t lead to exhausting fans and then whittling away the audience like happened with Raw.
Khan said regarding the company’s secondary title, the TNT championship, “My plan is to keep that TNT title but I have a different Turner idea I think is cool.”
The wrestling atmosphere is very different today than in the 80s, when both Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of Champions flourished in the ratings. At that time, the regular television was mostly squash matches and getting to see arena main events on television was special. Now, you get arena main events on prime time television every weeknight and special events streaming or on television on most weekends. You can literally put on the mach of the year and a few days later people have moved past it to the next big thing.
When WWE revived Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC from 2006 to 2008, the shows did not do well ratings-wise, because people were used to seeing live Raw weekly as their major weekly show. What that says is, with Dynamite being what it is, just putting on very good marquee matches with some build alone won’t make the new TNT specials successful, and they literally have to be like close to PPV quality specials.
Another key aspect in wrestling is that with every action by AEW, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Adding a second show on Friday at 10 p.m., if this was one year ago, you could immediately say the reaction. Because of the nature of the FOX schedule, you couldn’t add a third hour of Smackdown (if it was Friday night on USA it would be a given that would be the reaction). The reaction 100 percent would have been adding a third hour of the show but on FS 1. Friday at 10 p.m. has always been the time slot for the second show, and it was a given how it would have played out, with WWE going to FS 1 for hour three since it costs them very little extra to do a third live hour and it would draw much better than FS 1 could do almost every week in the time slot. If this doesn’t happen, it’s because of exactly what could have happened one year ago.
If AEW on TNT on Friday at 10 p.m. went head-to-head with hour three of Smackdown on FS 1, there is a very big risk AEW wins that battle. If you look at network vs. cable differential, what AEW does on cable in 18-49 was largely as impressive with head-to-head competition with what Smackdown does on Friday because of the inherent network advantage. Now, without competition, that has shown it’s more pronounced. TNT or later TBS vs. FS 1 gives AEW the stronger station advantage. Perhaps WWE using the name brand Smackdown could win overall viewers in hour three even though it would probably lose in 18-49. But it becomes a big perception risk of once again starting that fight, using the name brand Smackdown, and even if being close, let alone losing again. For that reason, while it still could happen, it’s not the sure thing reaction that it would have been one year ago. The idea of moving 205 Live, which WWE has broadcast in that time slot for years, to USA (which would no doubt have complications) or FS 1, would be foolish because that would be a sure loss for WWE. The political nature of spending two hours of Smackdown to build a main event for hour three on FS 1 has its issues, but any other way of programming as competition in that time slot would not fare well.
Still, history tells us there will be, in some form, a reaction.
“Both TBS and TNT have an incredibly storied past with wrestling so for us being able to put more AEW onto TBS was a natural fit,” said Brett Weitz, General Manager of TBS, TNT and truTV during a press call about the change. “ For me, being able to program these networks as a portfolio gives me the latitude to put them where it makes most sense for the consumer. Did the NHL have anything to do with it? Sure. The NBA had something to do with it, we felt TBS had an opportunity to be the best platform for expansion.”
Weitz was asked if the Turner Networks would make a bid for the WWE franchise when its deals with NBCU and FOX expire in 2024. He indicated being happy to stay exclusive with AEW.
“We are delivering to our wrestling audience,” he said. “More wrestling is better for wrestling fans.”
There was also a unique historically-based quote from Sam Linsky, the Associate General Manager and Senior Vice President of Programming and Operations of TBS, TNT and truTV, saying, “It’s a pleasure to be able to help Tony Khan expand his wrestling fiefdom across our networks and bring more content to our fans that fits the thrill ride brand of TNT and good time of TBS. It’s Wednesday. You know what that means.”
The term fiefdom, like blood and guts, comes from a 1991 Sports Illustrated quote when Vince McMahon dismissed TBS’ World Championship Wrestling and the rest of the business.
“In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge,” said McMahon. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords.”
“As a lifelong wrestling aficionado who is privileged to present AEW to longtime and new fans alike, it means a lot to me, personally and professionally, to share the news that All Elite Wrestling will call TBS home beginning in 2022,” said Tony Khan. “The history of wrestling in the United States cannot be told without acknowledging the contributions of TBS, which as WTBS years ago delivered wrestling to the Southeast and eventually to a massive national audience. TBS has the same passion for wrestling today, but will offer AEW and our fans more prime time programming, content and global opportunities that will establish TBS as the world’s undisputed destination for wrestling.”