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EXCLUSIVE: POP TV PRESIDENT BRADLEY SCHWARTZ COMMENTS ON FUTURE OF TNA ON NETWORK, VIEWERSHIP, WHY TNA WAS EXCLUDED FROM THE UPFRONTS AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2016-05-23 12:23:00

 Mike Johnson: TNA Vice President John Gaburick told me a couple of months ago, on the record, that the company is looking for new business partners and new investors to come on board and help bring the company to a higher plateau, let's say.  Is it possible POP TV could be interested in investing in the company?  Is that something you'd be willing to comment on, on the record, or is that something that at this stage, you'd rather not get into?

Bradley Schwartz: Yeah, it's probably not one for me to get into as, as you know, a lot of those conversations are confidential and for us, as a company that is owned by CBS and Lionsgate, we are always looking for opportunities to make our business bigger, whether that is through finding some strategic acquisitions or some opportunities that are out there, we are always looking for ways to grow our business and our relationship with Impact is very strong, but I don't think it is appropriate to comment on what their plans are for growing their business.  Obviously, I know some things that I can't really repeat, but also it's their business.

Mike Johnson: Final question, because there is someone who's going to listen to this or someone who's going to read the transcript and spins it, so I'm going to put you on the spot right now.  September of this year - will it be on POP TV?

Bradley Schwartz: Absolutely. Absolutely.  We have a multi-year deal and we should probably address that one thing from the Upfronts announcement.  What Upfronts are...Upfronts are not necessarily something for the public.  It's an ad-sales driven event.  It's where all the networks sell 70-90% of their ad inventory for the year, so the announcements you make at your Upfronts are really to support what your ad sales team is going out and selling and when it comes to Impact, because it's such a unique audience with a unique, live component or an alive component to it, there are sponsorship abilities to that that aren't just in ring sponsorships, show sponsorships and of course, advertising, it's kind of a 360 degree sell.  We have, us and Impact, have a third-party company that is selling those integrations and those sponsorships and so it wasn't something that the POP ad sales team was out there in the marketplace doing.  As far as the rest of our network, we kind of sell a women's 25-54 demo, we sell an adult 18-49 demo.  We really needed a different company with a different client list and a different set of skills to sell 360 degree sponsorships and integrations as the real way to kind of drive some revenue, additional and incremental revenue.   That's the only reason [Impact Wrestling] wasn't in our Upfronts release, because our team isn't selling it.  From a programming standpoint, yes, it will be on the air.  We aren't going to get rid of the second highest rated show on the Network.


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