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What's the story?
On an episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff discussed the potential problem that AEW's upcoming weekly show could have in getting advertisers on board.
In case you didn't know...
AEW Double or Nothing was considered an unmitigated success as it showcased a 5-star match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes, a sensational main-event and the debut of Jon Moxley. In terms of a debut PPV, AEW succeeded in every way. This bodes well for their TV debut, which could happen in the fall on TNT.
Eric Bischoff knows what it takes to challenge the WWE when he was in charge of WCW Monday Nitro. He famously defeated WWE Monday Night Raw for 83 straight weeks and was at the forefront of the Monday Night Wars. In this regard, Bischoff has the experience of handling a weekly wrestling TV show and all the challenges that come with it.
The heart of the matter
As mentioned, Eric Bishoff took time to comment on the announcement of AEW signing with TNT. While Eric Bischoff is excited for AEW and his advice for the company would be different from their competition in every possible way rather be different from it. He did say there was one potential nagging issue with regards to AD space. Eric Bischoff elaborates,
Here’s what I do know. This is not something I feel slightly intimidated about saying. Selling advertising in wrestling is extraordinarily difficult. Because wrestling is not a drama, but it is. It’s not a sitcom, but it is. It’s not a sport, but it is. It’s its own weird, kind of f****g duck, right? And it’s really hard to get big advertisers, mainstream advertisers, the one that spend 80% of the revenue in the ad market. It’s really hard to get them comfortable with professional wrestling, simply because they can’t define it. And it makes it hard.
Eric Bishoff does go on to say that for a start-up like AEW, it will be an uphill battle to get all the major advertising players to put their ads on AEW programming.
Special thanks to 411Mania for the transcription.
What's next?
Eric Bischoff makes valid points with regards to advertising, as it could make or break a company like AEW. WWE doesn't have that problem thanks to the WWE Network. I guess wrestling fans will find out in the fall. Until then, AEW has Fyter Fest on June 29, 2019.
