AEW Reportedly Wanted “Long Term” By Warner Bros. Discovery
A new report has shed light on how Warner Bros. Discovery will be treating AEW going forward with the media giant wanting a “long-term” deal with the company.
Since the announcement of Discovery’s merger with Warner Bros. – the parent company of TBS and TNT – many have wondered what the future will be for AEW on those networks moving forward.
However, the future might be looking bright for Tony Khan’s company according to John Arezzi who spoke at length on the subject on his Pro Wrestling Spotlight podcast. Arezzi suggests that the strategy with AEW is to market it as sports programming rather than entertainment:
“They’re trying to make it a sport. That’s what the strategy is. The strategy is that they are pushing AEW into the sports category, not the entertainment category. They’re increasing that because of the new ownership because Warner Bros. is now Warner Bros. Discovery.”
“Everything I hear of what’s going on even with TNT, it’s gonna be turning into a more sports-centric network. So they are now putting their resources behind these promo announcements to increase ratings. So whether or not they’re tasteful in regards to the violence and the blood, there’s a method to the madness.”
“I’m privy to a lot of insider conversations at least on the Warner Bros. Discovery side. I have a lot of people there in very high executive positions that I’ve known for many years that I worked for when I was in television here in Nashville. The same people who are now the leaders of Warner Bros. Discovery on the ad sales front. They see this property, AEW, as someone they want to be in business with long-term.”
“They had a contract which was absorbed by them when they merged that wasn’t the sweetest deal for TNT and TBS. It was kind of one-sided. So now what they are trying to do is to kind of collaborate and work together so they can work on the next long-term deal with them. I can’t get into it too much but there’s a lot of faith behind the AEW product right now from the folks at Warner Bros. Discovery.”