Should AEW be worried about WBDiscovery now?

[Jonathan Michaels]

Considering they’ve been cancelling already finished seasons of TV shows, and now movies that were finished, and generally made numerous odd “cost cutting” decisions, would they be stupid and random enough to screw with AEW?

[Fake Jesus]

stinky

[Jonathan Michaels]

Aug 3, 2022 20:15:36 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

stinky

[kingoftheindies]

unlikely. Discovery apparently classified AEW as live sports.

[Cyno]

Apparently the CEO loves wrestling and it's the kind of content they love: low cost (to them) and high ratings.

[Final Countdown Jones]

The finished movie is a weird and specific case where the actual motivations for cutting it are down entirely to being able to then recoup the entire thing as a tax write-off. You can't write off a contract for a show that airs live weekly. A lot of funky stuff is happening in that company, don't get me wrong. But it's all in-house stuff being f***ed with and shows they'd have to produce. They need to get content from somewhere and as long as AEW is affordable and brings in high ratings, they're safe.

[Rudy Gobert Fadeaway]

If Excalibur got cut from the WBDiscovery umbrella I think the whole marketing crew would just quit on the spot

[Convoy]

They don't produce AEW, they just have a contract for broadcast rights, I believe. It's not like investing money into making a show or movie - all the funds and production are provided by the independent entity that is AEW on a weekly basis.

When the time comes to negotiate the next TV contract, we'll see if there are any issues. Until then, AEW should be one of the safest holdovers from the WB side of the merger. It's a mixture of sports and reality show, which the new CEO prefers over expensive scripted programming.

[IgnahtaSempria]

So, let's just say, for argument's sake, that there IS a potential problem with WBDiscovery, and it somehow leads to AEW getting taken off of TBS/TNT.

AEW has now proven to be a draw. They've had multiple episodes with over 1 million viewers, they're regularly #1 in the demos that advertisers are looking at, and they have multiple mainstream connections outside the wrestling business. There are gonna be other networks that will want to pick AEW up.

[kingoftheindies]

Keep in mind the need CEO of WB/Discovery came from networks with a long history of wrestling as well and reports are Duscovery execs had a blast at the LA Dynamite

[eJm]

Aug 3, 2022 21:04:50 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Apparently the CEO loves wrestling and it's the kind of content they love: low cost (to them) and high ratings.

He was the guy responsible for getting Raw back to USA from Spike so there's already that pedigree.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Aug 4, 2022 7:28:19 GMT -5 eJm said:

Aug 3, 2022 21:04:50 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Apparently the CEO loves wrestling and it's the kind of content they love: low cost (to them) and high ratings.

He was the guy responsible for getting Raw back to USA from Spike so there's already that pedigree.

So this guy is turning into Jamie Kellner if he liked wrestling.

[HMARK Center]

Just heard the Observer radio bit where Meltzer was mulling this over. I'm sure some will take what he was saying as "AEW's in trouble thanks to what's happening at WB/Discovery!", but I think his bigger point was AEW needing to be prepared if the TV rights deal Warner next offers them isn't as high as they want it to be.

That said, Dave's musings did seem misdirected in some ways, too focused on the business decisions WBDiscovery is making concerning movies and prestige TV shows, something that isn't as likely to impact what eventual numbers they throw AEW's way. AEW is live programming and typically grouped more with sports, and while it won't get the kind of ludicrous dollars WB is going to give to the NBA, it'll more than likely come out just fine.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

AEW costs WB nothing and is a live sports program, something they're very keen on investing in and one of the biggest ratings draws on TNT if not the biggest. I feel this post gets made every other week and it's tiresome.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Meltzer is being all doom and gloom on Observer Radio but I think it's misplaced right now. WBD is getting a lot of flack but they have a strategy and AEW is more likely to fit into that strategy in my view than not. You can make cuts both to lower costs but also to ensure you can afford other programming. The NBA will obviously take precedent but AEW should be up there as well. It's cheap relative to the ratings they provide and now they can offer a much larger package in negotiations with their two tape libraries. And even if they perhaps don't offer the best deal, we've seen other companies including streaming platforms offer big money for lower tier sports programming like MLS. I think they're in a good spot still.

[Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story]

I think Meltzer's point about the rights fees potentially being lower is a fair point given what we're seeing in terms of cost-cutting, but it's probably too soon to be definitive either way.

[Kalmia]

It's mainly scripted shows and movies they're getting rid of due to the high costs to produce them. Wrestling isn't scripted (at least, not in the definition being used here) and is cheap to produce. I don't think the recent cancellations say anything about wrestling at all.

[Feyrhausen]

Aug 4, 2022 8:26:40 GMT -5 Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story said:

I think Meltzer's point about the rights fees potentially being lower is a fair point given what we're seeing in terms of cost-cutting, but it's probably too soon to be definitive either way.

Yeah I think it is completely reasonable to think that AEW might not get the new deal they were hoping for but they should still okay.

Meltzer is probably just real negative after seeing so many companies go under because of this kind of stuff unrelated to the ratings.

[Convoy]

There's a lot of doom and gloom with the WBD stuff, and I can understand AEW followers being concerned, but I don't see an imminent problem for them. We'll hear some news later today on WBD's earnings report and monitor their next steps.

[Mecca]

They'll likely still get a raise...but they aren't like gonna get WWE money at this point.