They finally did it: Only 4 TNA PPV's in 2013

[Jimmy]

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING today announced a new worldwide Pay-Per-View programming initiative for 2013. The 52 annual episodes of IMPACT WRESTLING on SpikeTV will lead to four, live epic Pay-Per-View events commencing with “Genesis” on January 13th, “Lockdown” on March 10th, “Slammiversary” on June 9 and “Bound For Glory” on October 13th.
In addition, seven Pay-Per-View specials that will be branded as “TNA Wrestling: One Night Only,” series will debut in April 2013 and continue throughout the year during the additional months. The 3-hour taped Pay-Per-View specials will premiere on the first Friday of each month. The first two “One Night Only” specials will be “Joker’s Wild Tag Team Tournament” and “X-travaganza” which will feature the X-Division.
“The Pay-Per-View industry has changed so much in the last decade,” says TNA President Dixie Carter. “The traditional pay-per-view wrestling model needed to evolve and we believe this strategy will positively impact not only the Pay-Per-View events but the weekly television programming as well.”
The company will continue to produce TNA Wrestling’s “Unfinished Business”, which are one-hour programs available on a Video on Demand (VOD) basis. The monthly titles continue to focus on the history of a rivalry or a specific past PPV event. These titles are available for two months at a time.

www.impactwrestling.com/news/item/4010-NEWS-TNA-IMPACT-WRESTLING-Announces-Major-Changes-To-2013-Pay-Per-View-Strategy

[nWoElite]

I DARE someone to tell me this doesn't sound like the 90's WWF PPV schedule.

The Big Four, surrounded by In Your House smaller ppv's.

[kingoftheindies]

probably a sound strategy. PPVs are just too expensive, and this allows for better buildup

[Deleted]

A strategy I'd warmly welcome in WWE. There's been too many for almost 20 years.

[Celgress]

I still would have prefered old style Clash of the Champions specials on free TV, in addition to the big four PPVs.

[HMARK Center]

I like it, but not keen on taped PPV's. Would rather have those shows air like Clash of the Champions did, on regular TV.

Still, it's for the best: the overload of PPV's is a big factor in what hurts wrestling these days.

[Celgress]

Jan 10, 2013 17:27:00 GMT -5 @subtlemocking said:

A strategy I'd warmly welcome in WWE. There's been too many for almost 20 years.

agreed, on both counts

[Djm Doesn't Find You Funny]

I remember reading and hearing that this would also lead to more content for Spike TV. What happened there?

[froggyfrog]

This is a cool idea. I think the taped PPV specials would function better as Spike TV special events or something however, i can't see myself paying for something that wasn't live

[Mayonnaise]

So they didn't cut it to 4, just outright told people only 4 will matter while the other 7 are IYH events.

[SassovsHart]

NEW TNA PPV PRICING PLAN IS...
by Mike Johnson @ 5:54 PM on 1/10/2013

The newly announced TNA Friday night PPVs will be priced at $14.95.
TNA Genesis and TNA Lockdown will still be priced at $34.95.

TNA Slammiversary and all live PPVs that follow will now be priced at $39.95.

TNA Bound for Glory will be the exception to that rule, since it always had a higher price point, and will now be priced at $44.95.

The TNA Unfinished Business PPV pricing will remain the same.

[Deleted]

Jan 10, 2013 17:58:34 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

So they didn't cut it to 4, just outright told people only 4 will matter while the other 7 are IYH events.

Came here to post this.

4 PPVs with Clash of the Champions style shows on Spike is a great idea, this idea while not terrible isn't all that great.

[Big L]

Jan 10, 2013 17:26:01 GMT -5 kingoftheindies said:

probably a sound strategy. PPVs are just too expensive, and this allows for better buildup

True indeed

[HMARK Center]

I guess we'll see. Something tells me they're at least working something out with Spike to supplement what they have on TV now; you don't just drop eight major shows a year, replace them with taped shows, and call it a day. Might just be a little bit before something forms, e.g. a new show or a regularly occurring big card, PPV-esque show on Spike.

Don't know for sure, of course. Regardless, I'm still excited to see this old format coming back.

[Cronant]

Taped Pay Per Views? Even at a discount, I can't imagine that being too appealing.

[grunt]

Don't get why people are skeptical about the taped specials, since it's exactly the same thing as buying an indy dvd two weeks after the show happened and its results appeared on the web.

And since those specials will be themed (tag, X-Division, KO, Hardcore, and so on) with outside talent involved, it might be a pretty good deal for 15$, depending on each card.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I wasn't too keen on this idea. But then I read the much reduced price tag for these events and I can see the potential.

I don't see too many people being keen to pay for a taped show that doesn't feed into the main storylines with Impact being live on most weeks, even with the heavily reduced price.

However, I am glad to see that TNA is trying to be innovative and realizing not every PPV offering has to cost over thirty dollars, and I hope it leads to something catching on in the entire industry (read: WWE).

[Cronant]

Jan 10, 2013 18:24:59 GMT -5 Oh Cry Me a Screwball said:

However, I am glad to see that TNA is trying to be innovative and realizing not every PPV offering has to cost over thirty dollars, and I hope it leads to something catching on in the entire industry (read: WWE).

Probably won't affect WWE in any way, honestly. Especially since their buys have generally been up this year.

[Jimmy]

Jan 10, 2013 18:24:32 GMT -5 grunt said:

Don't get why people are skeptical about the taped specials, since it's exactly the same thing as buying an indy dvd two weeks after the show happened and its results appeared on the web.

because you know the indy dvd's are good, and aren't TNA.

[paywindah]

WWE won't change. They won't get high enough buyrates for the remaining PPVs if they reduce their annual total to make up for the losses on the ones that are gone. To use simple math, if they cut the number of PPVs in half, they wouldn't get anywhere near double the buyrates for the remaining ones. Same thing goes for cutting prices.

They've been doing the PPV thing for a loooooong time. They know what works financially and what combination of frequency and price maximizes their revenue.

TNA's buyrates are so low that this if anything is more of a cost-cutting move.