Eric Bischoff knows a thing or two about producing a live weekly wrestling program on Turner television and he believes that the upcoming leap AEW will be making to TNT’s sister channel, TBS, is a brilliant move for all parties involved.
Eric was recently a part of an 83 Weeks Q&A segment on AdFreeShows and the former WCW President was asked about if All Elite Wrestling making that major move is good or bad for Tony Khan’s pro wrestling product. Eric stated that it would typically could be a problem for most programs, but pro wrestling and its fanbase happens to be a horse of a different color.
“The reason that I don’t think it’s going to impact AEW at all is because the wrestling audience is extremely loyal. They will find you, if they like you, they will find you and I don’t think moving to TBS is going to really have any effect,” Eric said, which even furthered his point as it was made clear that AEW’s second show, Rampage would air on TBS after SmackDown on Fridays.
“I think the whole move is a giant bonus. I think it’s a brilliant move,” he added, stating that TBS and TNT have a very close viewing audience between one another, meaning that at worse Dynamite should maintain what it originally had, but gain much more when it comes to additional programming.
Let’s just say it’s a neutral move, it’s a lateral move, didn’t hurt didn’t help, it just is, but they got a show on Friday night following SmackDown? Guess what I’m doing if I’m Turner? (Tony [Khan], are you listening?) I’m buying local advertising inside of SmackDown in all of the markets in around the country that I want to promote my shows in, live events or otherwise, and while people are watching SmackDown, I’m going to be telling them, ‘Hey! When SmackDown’s over, guess what we’re doing over here?’ And you’re going to drag some of that audience with you. C’mon! That’s not a positive, that’s a giant positive, that’s a giant net gain. So they risk nothing, they got an extra hour of television which is going to be additional revenue (it doesn’t matter, it’s going to work) and they’re going to be able to draft off of SmackDown. How does that suck? How is that bad? How is that even a topic of conversation in terms of a debate?'”
Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone
