May 20, 2019 Observer Newsletter: AEW announces TV deal with TNT

All Elite Wrestling and WarnerMedia announced officially at the latters’ upfronts at the Hulu Theater a deal for weekly prime time wrestling on TNT.

This would be the most significant television breakthrough for pro wrestling in the U.S. since Turner Broadcasting canceled wrestling on TNT and TBS in early 2001.

The deal, which was expected, came without much in the way of answers to a lot of the questions, largely because those questions haven’t been answered.

Right now nothing is concrete past the point of a weekly two-hour live show. The day of the week is not official, although it will likely be either Tuesday or Wednesday night.

WarnerMedia is going to make the call based on market research to determine the value of going on Tuesday, with it being a “creature of habit” night for wrestling fans right now, with the idea of going 8-10 p.m. is the current Smackdown time slot. The downside of that move is TNT has NBA commitments on Tuesday.

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