TMZ reported that Spike has not renewed TNA.

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Meltzer ****ting everyone up


Court Bauer seems to know:

J. Marston

What could that be? One of them Sting in the ring (:pac:) related?

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J. Marston wrote: »

What could that be? One of them Sting in the ring (:pac:) related?

SPIKE not renewing IMPACT seems to be the front runner.

Agent Coulson

Network numbers really bad would be my guess on one of them.

Edit thats already stated D'oh.

rovert

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Network numbers really bad would be my guess on one of them.

Edit thats already stated D'oh.

Russo MAY have the final nail for SPIKE.

This weeks Observer newsletter on the story of Russo outing himself as a consultant:

I do know that Russo had denied it to everyone, including people who were his longtime friends. Russo had not been to any of the shows and had only worked with the people in creative and a few others. Some wrestlers knew but were never told, but figured it out. Others believed it to be a false rumor and were not happy about being, in their words, lied to. Spike TV officials were not fans of Russo, and the key to all this is TNA didn’t want Spike finding out, more than fans or the other wrestlers, that they were still employing him and he still had at least a hand in creative. This goes back years with Spike. One person noted to us that years ago Spike told people in talks about doing creative with TNA that they made it clear they wanted nothing to do with Russo.

Dixie losing their TV deal over Russo would be just :eek::p:rolleyes::mad: all in one go.

Tinfoil hat time Russo JUST announced this:


Can you say Exit Strategy, bro?

Machismo Fan

I assume TNA's August tapings take them up to the end of the Spike contract (which explains why they aren't taping all the pre-BFG TV and why they expected a TV announcement at those shows).

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Machismo Fan wrote: »

I assume TNA's August tapings take them up to the end of the Spike contract (which explains why they aren't taping all the pre-BFG TV and why they expected a TV announcement at those shows).

Haven't erred from thinking it is SPIKE cancelling or playing a "sell the promotion to us or we will cancel" hardball.

Meltzer's second story is probably MMA related knowing him - Gina Carano to UFC.

Machismo Fan

WWE could always pick up iMPACT! as a Network exclusive.

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Machismo Fan wrote: »

WWE could always pick up iMPACT! as a Network exclusive.

Thursday:

Insect Overlord

Would rather see Shane at the podium, tbh! :P

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An File wrote: »

Would rather see Shane at the podium, tbh! :P

If a podium and the delivery of bad news is required I know a man:

Ape Lincoln

TMZ reported that Spike has not renewed TNA.

http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/27/impact-wrestling-cancelled-spike-tv-tna/

TNA Wrestling's flagship show "Impact Wrestling" could soon be without a home -- Spike TV quietly let the league know it's not renewing their TV contract … TMZ has learned.

rovert

TMZ reported that Spike has not renewed TNA.

http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/27/impact-wrestling-cancelled-spike-tv-tna/

TNA Wrestling's flagship show "Impact Wrestling" could soon be without a home -- Spike TV quietly let the league know it's not renewing their TV contract … TMZ has learned.

(Credit to Ape Lincoln too)

Mad lead to the loss of jobs and may event the death of the promotion.

But I am going to be a bollox say this about the clown show Dixie ran:

Ape Lincoln

Tis a shame for the workers. They were kept in the dark during negotiations and it appears to have been the same now with the contract not being renewed. The Russo thing too.

rovert

Meltzer says Russo has "everything to do with it" on the LAW radio show.

Ape Lincoln

rovert wrote: »

Meltzer says Russo has "everything to do with it" on the LAW radio show.

Aye, listened to it live and I burst out laughing. He corrected himself straight after as he is wont to do. Said Russo had "much to do with it" or something similar.

It's worth listening back to. Court Bauer got on the line as well for a quick chat.

Not sure what it costs them to produce their TV but without a similar deal they won't survive and they are highly unlikely to get a deal elsewhere.

rovert

Full write up:

A number of media sources have reported that Spike TV will not be renewing Impact Wrestling when the contract expires in just over two months.

There were reports that Carter positioned to her staff at a meeting on Friday that they were leaving Spike on their own volition due to a lack of promotion, but others have confirmed Spike had told Carter they were not going to offer a new deal.

The decision came days after Spike found out that Vince Russo was still working for TNA.

At this point direct sources at Spike did not respond to questions from just after the meeting and most within TNA, including talent, were not aware there was any issue until today when rumors started flying.

This puts the company in grave position. They have UTA representing them in an attempt to get a new television deal, but unless they could get a deal that pays similar to what they were earning on Spike, financially, the company that had been struggling financially with the Spike payments, would not be in good shape.

TNA was founded in 2002 by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett. The company was about to fold when the company's publicist, Dixie Carter, found out they were on the verge of closing and convinced her parents to purchase the company. The company lost tens of millions of dollars, but kept up a glimmer of hope. They were close to folding in 2005 when Spike and WWE had their split, and Spike brought them in for a late Saturday night one hour time slot.

Eventually the show was moved to Thursday, and expanded to two hours. Aside from a brief period when they moved to Monday and drew poor ratings, they did solid above station average numbers on Thursday.

Ape Lincoln

The LAW radio show covering it: http://fightnetwork.com/news/49280:july-27-edition-of-the-law-spike-tv-not-renewing-impact/

Garseys

Now there's original content to add to the WWE Network.

Seriously though, bad news all around can't say I didn't see it coming after the numerous fcuk ups.

I hope for the sake of the talent and staff that something is found.

Lord TSC

I used to check up pretty religiously on TNA, reading all the spoilers, watching the odd match, working out what "dream" matches I'd like to see in a TNA vs WWE show.

Now, not so much. Didn't even bother to look up if any tapings were on when I was in Orlando 2 weeks ago (I have been a few times over the years). Honestly feel as if the gap between WWE and TNA has grown larger and larger. So no surprise really.

Got to imagine Jarrett is rubbing his hands together at the glut of free talent this could lead too.....

Nody

Garseys wrote: »

Now there's original content to add to the WWE Network.

Seriously though, bad news all around can't say I didn't see it coming after the numerous fcuk ups.

I hope for the sake of the talent and staff that something is found.

Who would want it though? WWE thought they were going to double or triple their money; they got chopped of at the kneecaps on that and lets be honest hereif they had any better offer they would have moved on. The simple fact is Wrestling is not drawing enough (insert reasons here) and that the TV channels are not interested to pay for it compared to other TV shows. TNA will simply be another promotion going under; not the first and far from the last sadly and it's not like the writing on the wall has not been around for a while (see the number of contract negotiations with them lowering the salaries etc. in the last year and the number of people dropped).

Moneymaker

That really could be the death knell for TNA.

takamichinoku

If the whole rehiring Vince Russo thing was honestly key to it, it's pretty much the perfect ending of TNA. How on earth he came to be rehired, especially if even Spike were extremely against him, is something I'm really looking forward to hearing about whenever it surfaces.


I thought the reason Vince didn't get the any kind of offer at all was almost entirely to do with the stigma associated with wrestling cos even ratings right now are very good for cable tv, once you factor in the amount that still watch live and the fact it's on every week of the year, it's undoubtedly got some value. NASCAR has the same trashy audience, ratings have been in the toilet and it got a crazy increase; I think WWE got carried away on the basis of projections by analysts who were failing to acknowledge that wrestling has a bigger issue than its audience and that's the general public perception of the product.
Part of me wonders whether there's something interesting going on there beyond "one's a sport and one isn't" where there's an unwillingness to outright dismiss NASCAR on the basis of it being pretty easy to perceive as looking down on a particular class whereas you're middle-class kids and whatnot will love wrestling so it's less taboo to look down on it.

TNA ain't gonna get a new distributor unless they've someone extremely savvy negotiating on their behalf.



Jesus Christ what a rant... obviously I've a ton of work to be doing and am doing my best to avoid it.

Garseys

takamichinoku wrote: »

If the whole rehiring Vince Russo thing was honestly key to it, it's pretty much the perfect ending of TNA. How on earth he came to be rehired, especially if even Spike were extremely against him, is something I'm really looking forward to hearing about whenever it surfaces.


I thought the reason Vince didn't get the any kind of offer at all was almost entirely to do with the stigma associated with wrestling cos even ratings right now are very good for cable tv, once you factor in the amount that still watch live and the fact it's on every week of the year, it's undoubtedly got some value. NASCAR has the same trashy audience, ratings have been in the toilet and it got a crazy increase; I think WWE got carried away on the basis of projections by analysts who were failing to acknowledge that wrestling has a bigger issue than its audience and that's the general public perception of the product.
Part of me wonders whether there's something interesting going on there beyond "one's a sport and one isn't" where there's an unwillingness to outright dismiss NASCAR on the basis of it being pretty easy to perceive as looking down on a particular class whereas you're middle-class kids and whatnot will love wrestling so it's less taboo to look down on it.

TNA ain't gonna get a new distributor unless they've someone extremely savvy negotiating on their behalf.



Jesus Christ what a rant... obviously I've a ton of work to be doing and am doing my best to avoid it.

Was gonna post something similar. Completely agree with you about the "non-sports" aspect of it. I guess the Carny concoctions still apply in mainstream media.

Agent Coulson

AJ sitting in Japan right now with the IWGP title thinking to himself I made the right decision alright at the right time to leave.

takamichinoku

I'm not saying the WWE aren't at all to blame, like... I don't even need to run through a list of examples, do I? Even if I just stuck to the PG-era, like. From what I gather, even SyFy's executives are embarrassed to have it, the channel whose biggest thing on the horizon is called Sharknado 2.

A Rogue Hobo

Big blow for TNA but from the rumours seems like it's been coming a long time with both sides suspecting it would happen. With all the budget cuts over the last few months one can only assume TNA have known about this probably happening for longer than they're letting on. Regardless of if you TNA or not its a blow for wrestling as a whole, no one should be happy over wrestlers losing television exposure and income.

The Russo stuff seems absolutely far fetched to me, mostly because he is the internet's scapegoat and also because it just doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would Spike be so bothered if he was rehired as a consultant for a wrestling company? Spike aren't a wrestling company? It seems a bit mad that his presence would annoy them so much, that they would cancel their weekly airing of Impact, which has never delivered too much under or above the 1m mark each week regardless of when Russo was working for TNA or not at the time. I think it's more of a case of coincidence of timing and people online thinking they can run wrestling promotions going RUSSO KILLED 2 PROMOTIONS LAWL! I'd love to be proved wrong with some actual evidence other than hearsay but I doubt we'll ever get that and it'll be treated as gospel anyways.

Nody

A Rogue Hobo wrote: »

The Russo stuff seems absolutely far fetched to me, mostly because he is the internet's scapegoat and also because it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

I'd not be so quick to judge; if Spike told TNA to cut Russo (because of his booking style and dislike in the direction the product was going in general) and TNA agrees and then goes and hire him secretly I'd say that would upset quite a few people in Spike. With it coming out when they are seriously considering cutting them anyway it could easily become the tipping block. Remember the rumours of Spike funding the Hulk Hogan et al crew as well with promises of big view increases which fell flat as well, add in this and well in what's most likely been an ongoing negotiation for several months. Said negotiations have most likely been focused on how much less Spike was to pay for TNA (remember all the talent cuts/contract negotiations with downwards salaries etc.) and I could see it being the final straw kind of moment (as in "We told you not to hire this guy; you went behind our back and did it anyway so **** it; we're pulling the plug because you're not listening to us and we don't trust you anymore").

takamichinoku

I'd imagine the Russo thing undoubtedly pissed them off, but they're using him as a scapegoat for a decision they made ages ago.

A Rogue Hobo

Nody wrote: »

I'd not be so quick to judge; if Spike told TNA to cut Russo (because of his booking style and dislike in the direction the product was going in general) and TNA agrees and then goes and hire him secretly I'd say that would upset quite a few people in Spike. With it coming out when they are seriously considering cutting them anyway it could easily become the tipping block. Remember the rumours of Spike funding the Hulk Hogan et al crew as well with promises of big view increases which fell flat as well, add in this and well in what's most likely been an ongoing negotiation for several months. Said negotiations have most likely been focused on how much less Spike was to pay for TNA (remember all the talent cuts/contract negotiations with downwards salaries etc.) and I could see it being the final straw kind of moment.

Would Spike really give that much of a damn of the direction the company is going in if the ratings were consistent though? Impact has pretty much always floated around the 1m mark when Russo was there and when Russo wasn't there. It just seems like everyone jumping to huge conclusions and placing blame on someone who has done a lot of stupid crap over the years, but just doesn't deserve it in this case.

Machismo Fan

I would think it's not so much Russo himself (though he obviously is a factor) as it being the case that TNA flat out lied to Spike in the year of major TV negotiations. I can see why Spike would be upset with them trying to fool them and deciding to no longer do business with them.

imadouche

And just when matt hardy received work!!

imadouche

Seriously though as someone mentioned before Jarrett has his pick now. But it would be hard for him to trying to keep a diffferent i dentity with many of the faces connected to a failed promotion.

rovert

bradlente

Nody wrote: »

I'd not be so quick to judge; if Spike told TNA to cut Russo (because of his booking style and dislike in the direction the product was going in general) and TNA agrees and then goes and hire him secretly I'd say that would upset quite a few people in Spike. With it coming out when they are seriously considering cutting them anyway it could easily become the tipping block. Remember the rumours of Spike funding the Hulk Hogan et al crew as well with promises of big view increases which fell flat as well, add in this and well in what's most likely been an ongoing negotiation for several months. Said negotiations have most likely been focused on how much less Spike was to pay for TNA (remember all the talent cuts/contract negotiations with downwards salaries etc.) and I could see it being the final straw kind of moment (as in "We told you not to hire this guy; you went behind our back and did it anyway so **** it; we're pulling the plug because you're not listening to us and we don't trust you anymore").

That could be a big factor.WWE is the promotion TNA and others aspire to compete with,Hogan was a big part of plans to elevate the brand towards that goal in '10 and it fell flat on its áss.Now he's showing up on WWE tv and selling tickets in Japan,could understand a few tv executives looking at that and wondering how it was so mismanaged by the company.

gnfnrhead

I'm not buying it. Impact is one of Spike's highest rated shows for 52 weeks a year. Any of their other high rating shows only run for a max of 26 weeks. It makes no sense for them to cut it especially since they could renew it for less now that Hardy will be the only big name left. I don't think Spike even pay any of his wages meaning once Angle is gone, they don't pay for anyone.

Unless they are taking a shot with GFW, it makes no sense to drop a guaranteed (and strong for Spike) rating for every week of the year.

imadouche wrote: »

Seriously though as someone mentioned before Jarrett has his pick now. But it would be hard for him to trying to keep a diffferent i dentity with many of the faces connected to a failed promotion.

Who though? Aries and Roode for sure. But Storm and Bully are getting on in years while Joe would probably favour an ROH homecoming. Think Young and Abyss would be the only other guys you'd straight away associate with TNA and neither are major names.

bradlente wrote: »

That could be a big factor.WWE is the promotion TNA and others aspire to compete with,Hogan was a big part of plans to elevate the brand towards that goal in '10 and it fell flat on its áss.Now he's showing up on WWE tv and selling tickets in Japan,could understand a few tv executives looking at that and wondering how it was so mismanaged by the company.

Hogan booked himself and his buddies to be the focal point each week. If Hogan had the same level of power in WWE, he would be doing the exact same now.

rovert

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I'm not buying it.

Obviously.

SPIKE has no faith in Dixie and with Bellator changing the frequency of shows they don't need a weekly lead in.

takamichinoku

I feel like this story isn't getting the huge amount of attention from wrestling people as I expected, is it just because there's nothing official out yet or will tons of stories be popping up this evening once America wakes up fully?

Mr.Saturn

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I'm not buying it. Impact is one of Spike's highest rated shows for 52 weeks a year. Any of their other high rating shows only run for a max of 26 weeks. It makes no sense for them to cut it especially since they could renew it for less now that Hardy will be the only big name left. I don't think Spike even pay any of his wages meaning once Angle is gone, they don't pay for anyone.

Considering the stigma surrounding wrestling, the idea that it only draws viewers from lower socio-economic backgrounds and the the fact that the 'E, as the premier brand in the game, have been struggling for consistent sponsors outside of K-Mart and Fruity Pebbles, it would make sense that Spike would see TNA's 1.1 as disposable. That's even if they're drawing in the lucrative 18-34 demo.

I'd agree on the sentiment of not calling it quits just yet, mind, 'til there's word from TNA themselves. Though, I'm more envisioning TNA wheezing on as an even smaller operation in the far-flung corners of US cable.

takamichinoku

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

it would make sense that Spike would see TNA's 1.1 as disposable.

I might be wrong here, but I think the audience thing is more an issue for your USAs and FXs. Spike, the Nashville Network, are a second tier channel with a rather trashy focus (repeats of Cops all over the shop, right?) so it's significantly less disposable for them than it would be for bigger, better channels.

Nody

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I'm not buying it. Impact is one of Spike's highest rated shows for 52 weeks a year. Any of their other high rating shows only run for a max of 26 weeks. It makes no sense for them to cut it especially since they could renew it for less now that Hardy will be the only big name left. I don't think Spike even pay any of his wages meaning once Angle is gone, they don't pay for anyone

Two things wrong with this idea though; 1) Ratings only matter for commercials; if they can't sell the time the rating does not matter (which in turn goes back to the audience question). This ties into point 2); cost of the show. If they can sell the commercial time for 1MM and the show costs 2MM a year it will not matter if it's the highest rated show 52 weeks a year.

Having said that with the new branding agency from TNA I'd not be surprised if the agency tries to push up the cost (it's what they are paid to do afterall) and Spike is letting this "news" out as a way to tell them to take a step back because they are not paying.

gnfnrhead

Nody wrote: »

Two things wrong with this idea though; 1) Ratings only matter for commercials; if they can't sell the time the rating does not matter (which in turn goes back to the audience question). This ties into point 2); cost of the show. If they can sell the commercial time for 1MM and the show costs 2MM a year it will not matter if it's the highest rated show 52 weeks a year.

Having said that with the new branding agency from TNA I'd not be surprised if the agency tries to push up the cost (it's what they are paid to do afterall) and Spike is letting this "news" out as a way to tell them to take a step back because they are not paying.

Hadn't thought of the agency pushing up the cost. For arguments sake, let's say they want the exact same payment as before. With Hogan, Sting and Angle off the books, that's a big saving for Spike right away. The agency would have to be pushing for a big increase for it to not be worth it to Spike.

As for selling the commercial time, it's a lot easier to sell something that will be seen by 1m people than something that will be seen by only 500,000 people. TNA are almost guaranteed to bring in at least 1m every single week of the week. That wouldn't mean much to the likes of USA, but it's a big number for Spike right now.

The agency pushing up the price seems the most likely.

Mr.Saturn

takamichinoku wrote: »

I might be wrong here, but I think the audience thing is more an issue for your USAs and FXs. Spike, the Nashville Network, are a second tier channel with a rather trashy focus (repeats of Cops all over the shop, right?) so it's significantly less disposable for them than it would be for bigger, better channels.

Problem is, these Cops reruns, as iMpact's lead-in, do ballpark TNA figures (sometimes outdrawing it), whilst costing less and has a 25 year+ history of drawing respectable ad rates, considering its history of making money on the very mainstream Fox network before they dumped it. 'Trashy' mainstream still outdoes 'decent for wrestling' cash, it seems.

It also goes ways to mention that the new Saturday-night episodes of Cops have been greeted as a runaway success for Spike within the industry, as it's pulling in the 18-34s who never grew up with it and would somewhat eat into TNA's appeal, again because it's cheaper and is not a strictly 'wrestling' audience.

I think that explains my 'TNA as disposable' argument, bit all over the shop, but I gave it a crack. Still, really hoping some semblance of iMpact comes out of this reported rubble.

Forgive me if I sound like a tosspot for mentioning 'demos' and 'draws'; have a keenness for US telly having followed the two talk-show wars.

rovert

Wrestelzone:

A source has now informed us that Dave Lagana, former WWE creative writer and current Director of Creative Writing for TNA, has approached Ring of Honor as a possible next step. He is interested in producing future live PPV events, as well as managing all of ROH’s online and social media presence.

Lagana has been with TNA since October of 2011, and actually worked as a backstage producer for Ring of Honor for several years, following his six-year run as a writer and producer for WWE. He became well known on the internet as the voice of the “I Want Wrestling” podcast in 2011. We’ve been told there is at least some preliminary interest by ROH in bringing him back to the company.

LoLagana

Jim Ross wrote this on SATURDAY 

Speaking of ROH, the ever present rumor mill says that they might be for sale. I can't verify such but it wouldn't surprise me. The 'new' wore off Sinclair Broadcasting buying their own pro wrestling company a long time ago. Too bad because there's money to be made with ROH if it was positioned better.

 
http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/saturday-blog-mark-madden-roh-wrestling-impactspike-tv-ufcfightnight-aj-podcast-rocks-sting

bradlente

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Hogan booked himself and his buddies to be the focal point each week. If Hogan had the same level of power in WWE, he would be doing the exact same now.

Who gave him the power to do it,Spike or Dixie/upper management?

takamichinoku

bradlente wrote: »

Who gave him the power to do it,Spike or Dixie/upper management?

Well, Spike may have given Hogan and Bischoff a lot of say, but I seriously doubt they were super keen on some of the things that Dixie surely had some say on.

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Machismo Fan

Dixie and Bob Ryder have claimed on Twitter that negotiations with Spike are still ongoing.

Ape Lincoln

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Dixie and Bob Ryder have claimed on Twitter that negotiations with Spike are still ongoing.

A few swigs of the kool-aid never hurt anyone sure.

rovert

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Dixie and Bob Ryder have claimed on Twitter that negotiations with Spike are still ongoing.

They also claimed Russo didn't work for the company.

takamichinoku

At this point, if they do renew, how exactly are they gonna be able to convince anyone to choose them over even the remotest of possibilities of getting a WWE contract? They've absolutely no upward mobility and presumably will have to cut costs further again if Spike have all the bargaining power here.