TNA Wrestling Announces Major Changes To 2013 Pay-Per-View Strategy

[It's Damn Real!]

http://www.impactwrestling.com/news...s-Major-Changes-To-2013-Pay-Per-View-Strategy

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.”

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This finally puts to rest the rumors about them dropping PPV events, and exactly what the "One Night Only" specials we've been hearing about will be.

Personally, I love this new set-up. The fact they will only have four major PPV's a year means they'll have that much more time to build to each, which should strengthen the product big-time. The One Night Only special events also have a very Clash of Champions feel to them already, and should do wonders in pulling in television viewers, but I've also been accused of never criticizing the product in the past, so let's open the floor!

Thoughts?

 

[Alex]

Makes sense. I know back in the early days they did the weekly PPVs which this seems to have the same idea as.

Also as you said IDR it allows them to build up storylines more. I'm going to say that aside from Bound For Glory the past couple of PPVs have been good matches with barely any story involved, no payoff, nothing. And that can be disheartening to the paying customer.

This one night only set up allows them to do the awesome matches without having to worry about story.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

But....what about the Destination X cash in stipulation? That's now gone? Ah well, a small price to pay for what sounds like a really cool idea. One Night Only sounds pretty interesting.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I like this idea a lot. Where as WWE has too much free TV time and it can cost them PPV-level matches, TNA has the opposite problem where they only have about 8 hours total of free TV to build up each pay-per-view. If done properly, this should lead to angles with much better development and payoff, plus some entertaining shows that don't have to follow the pay-per-view format that has been the industry standard for years now. Hopefully they can follow through with the actual shows.

 

[klunderbunker]

So in other words they're doing four major shows a year and themed In Your Houses? I can certainly live with this. At the end of the day, the B level shows were getting REALLY bad and there was no need to have them most of the time. I have no problem with waiting longer in between major PPVs if we don't have to sit through boring shows in between. I like the move overall and it fits TNA better.

 

[SteelX]

The One Night Only special events also have a very Clash of Champions feel to them already, and should do wonders in pulling in television viewers

The One Night Only events are PPVS. Taped PPVs in my opinion are a bad idea. Especially since they are taping two of them this early starting Saturday.

 

[Mailman]

Well.. the One Night Only events won't be your traditional Pay Per Views. Seem like themed shows.. so I doubt they'll tie into the major storylines going on in TNA. I think those will be left for Impact and the four major live PPVs.

 

[Hurt2k1]

I like this idea for anything more then just giving a try, i assume this means those 4 ppv will move around the country now instead of impact zone plus it gives more build and chances of rematch ppv matches gets alot slimmer to have. Maybe the WWE should learn from this or maybe not.

 

[nwogiant33]

I wonder what the price point will be for the 4 big PPV's vs. the One Night Only PPV's? That will make a huge difference for most as to whether or not they'd pay to see the ONO PPV's.

I think what they should do is have 4 big PPV's like they're going to have, and instead of the ONO PPV's, have around 6 ONO free events that air on SpikeTV or another network every other month or so. Most people would then be more inclined to buy the big 4 PPV's at a price that's certain to be higher than usual right?

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think the new strategy sounds like a great idea. Make the big four PPV's, scattered evenly throughout the year, more of a focal point which should hopefully build some more anticipation for them, and possibly even result in better buy rates. The rest of the B shows, now with a new name, weren't really setting the world on fire anyway, so they can still use them for limited benefit while focusing in the more significant events. And with more time elapsing between their bigger PPV's, there should be more time to allow progression and evolution of storylines, something which has been sadly lacking in the world of TNA Wrestling.

Of course, I still seriously doubt I am going to purchase any of them, but at least it's nice to know they are attempting to come up with some sort of sound strategy to address their multiple deficiencies, which could yield positive results in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Nate DaMac]

The name is kind of stupid. How is it one night only if they have them 7 times a year?

There. That's my only criticism. The idea sounds okay on the surface, but I'll have to see it in action. I hope they cost less than the other PPVs or else, the fuck is the point?

 

[Weems2k]

But....what about the Destination X cash in stipulation? That's now gone? Ah well, a small price to pay for what sounds like a really cool idea. One Night Only sounds pretty interesting.

I'm sure they'll keep this stipulation. It went over huge last year with Aries. Isn't one of the themed PPV's announced already focused on the X Division?

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Here's the thing, IF TNA can make compelling TV, then they'll do fine only having a PPV every 3 months. In fact, that idea sounds awesome. I was hoping to have closer to 8, but I can do with less paid wrestling. It will make the PPV's they do have feel a lot more special, save the company a ton of money, and hopefully push all those events to outside venues.

That being said, I'm intrigued by these One Night Only things. Now we know how they'll be using those two pre-tapped specials this weekend. They both sound awesome, but it will completely depend on the price. Will I pay $10-15 to see a pre-tapped thing that has nothing to do with the weekly product? Sure. Will I spend normal $40-50 PPV price? Hell no.

EDIT: One of the most important things to take away from this is, TNA will be remaining live for the foreseeable future. Before we knew what these specialty recordings were, it was possible they could have been episodes of Impact, and before we knew they were special at all most just assumed they were. So, it's worth pointing out that Impact will still be live. Which is awesome.

 

[fenderjapan]

I like this idea except for taping pay per views. The appeal of watching PPV is unpredictability. That goes out the door.

If they were tv specials or something that would be different.

Good move to shrink the pay per view schedule, but I don't know about the taping thing.

 

[Rulk25]

Its sounds good in theory the big problem is they need to hit the ground running with good ones. The X division works and maybe the steel cage would have been better but for the Joker's Wild tag to be the first seems a bit fishy. Sounds like Lethal lottery where you get random partners tagging up (Sting and Doc vs Storm and Roode perhaps ) and at the end what a tag title shot?? Although a fun concept not one of the stronger ones

 

[UrUp]

The themes for the "One Night Only" PPVs will be,

- TNA X-Travaganza, featuring the stars of the X-Division (airing in April, taping 1/13).

- TNA Joker's Wild Tag Team Special, featuring enemies teaming and a Battle Royal final (airing in May, taping 1/13)

- TNA Hardcore Justice 2 - ECW reunion style "hardcore" show featuring hardcore stipulation matches bringing in ECW talents.

- TNA "10 Reunion" - Stars from the early days of TNA battling inside a Six-Sided ring.

- TNA Knockouts Knockdown - One night Knockout tournament with the first round being all stipulation matches and the final four in a "test of their stamina" to see who the final victor is.

- TNA International Incident - One night tournament featuring talent from " United States, India, Mexico, Ireland, Canada, Germany,
Japan & the UK" with the winner earning a TNA title shot.

- TNA X-Division World Cup Tournament - four teams of X-Division wrestlers in a one night tournament featuring singles, tag, six man and eight man tag bouts.

- TNA World Cup of Wrestling - Four teams, each captained by a TNA wrestler featuring a Heavyweight wrestler, a tag team and an X-Division wrestler battling in singles, tag and stipulation bouts. The finale will be a "two ring, triple chance Battle Royal."

Ok... this list kind of me go "Oh shit!"

A "two ring, triple chance battle royal" at the end of an interesting World Cup idea? A show catering to talent from 8 different countries in which most countries talent are not currently "signed/noticed" on the active roster? An ECW reunion show and a show where we'll see early TNA talent?

As far as PPV buys go for these specials, I don't expect many casual fans to be buying them up a storm, but as a fan who likes nostalgia and seeing different and fresh product, I'm looking forward to this.

I'm also encouraged by this as it shows an open communication between TNA and talent not currently on the roster, in which relationships may develop and lead to bigger and better things. Austin Aries returned in a similar situation and look where he is now.

The only problem I have with this is if most fans will miss out, as they usually do when it comes to PPVs. TNA really needs to introduce the entire audience to their top PPV content and while only 1% of audience is buying ppvs, I hope that trend continues especially with only 4 ppvs.

But as a fan who will go the slighest bit out of the way to watch, this is very good news for us.

 

[El Rev sXe]

Even if I don't get to see TNA, I think this is a risky yet excellent idea. Is a great way not only to develop characters, feuds and storylines but also it's a way too secure in some fashion their TV ratings. With a consistent good TV, they will keep fans hanged to their current product and might even get bigger ratings.

If this has some good results, well WWE, time to reconsider the mothly PPV.

I don't think I'm understanding the concept behind the "one night only" like Nate said:

The name is kind of stupid. How is it one night only if they have them 7 times a year?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

The concept of "One Night Only" makes sense as far as the names go. As you can see, all the ONO events are actually incredibly different as far as what they present. X-Division theme, ex-TNA wrestlers theme, Hardcore theme, Tag-Team theme, etc. So yes - it's One Night Only. It's just that TNA branded ALL of the events under one name. Otherwise they turn into regular Pay-Per-Views. Content wise they are all distinct in nature.

In general - I like this idea. Personally, I've never bought a PPV in my life since I don't even own a TV and I'm a student, so that's the last thing on my mind. What I enjoy about this change are, frankly, the ONO events. They seem freaking epic. Essentially they're tailor made PPVs for the IWC. Look at them - they're incredibly spot-festy when it comes to who might be in them, Battle Royals, two rings, six sided ring, Cups, International wrestlers and all focus on those misused divisions in TNA everyone bitches about. Good idea.

And for those who claim that having the ONO's taped will ruin their predictability ... well, here's a bright idea. Don't read the spoilers and you won't know what happens. See how smart that is? If it wasn't for us knowing it's taped, once you see it there's no way of knowing if it's live or taped unless they specifically mentioned it on the air, thus avoid the spoilers and enjoy.

However, I'd love to see how this pans out for TNA in the long run. This is a REALLY risky move. I've mentioned this in other threads but I never thought TNA would do this so quickly. There's literally no evidence anywhere that his model has ever worked so this is ballsy.

At the same time, if you think about it, they're not REALLY dropping all 12 PPVs and replacing them with 4 big ones. What they're doing is keeping 12 paid shows, except 4 of them are legit PPVs and the rest are ONO's, the price of which might be lower but I'm betting the price of the 4 PPVs will increase, thus not changing anything, only rearranging the prices.

Say, for mathematical purposes, they made $150 a year. Working with tiny numbers here for the sake of my ridiculious explanation. They charged $12.50 for each PPV and they had 12 of those (and only one person bought them, apparently).

Now what they're doing is that they have 4 PPVs, 8 ONO's and they still make $150 a year because the PPVs will cost $20 each this time around which is way more expensive than before (but they're more "special" so that's the selling pont), but the ONO's cost less ($11,25) and that's THEIR selling point.

Of course, there is the possibility that TNA will charge differently and actually make more than $150 but who knows.

So all in all, if TNA did what I just explained that means they just revamped their PPV structure, made a buzz about it, planted the illusion that things will be different in our pretty little heads and should most likely expect some great gains from it.

All they need to do is really really REALLY push this idea on the air because I bet you we're the only ones who know about it. Just explain it to the casual fans as if they were mentally challenged. TNA switched their air time to one hour early and it fucked them up, imagine what this will do.

But, overall, we'll be able to tell if this was any good a year from now. The potentil is there and it LOOKS like a good thing, hope it is.

 

[blockanWo]

I just hope that this means PPV outcomes become that much more important in the way they are writen. Having someone do a run in and interfere in the match or have a outcome that is up in the air at a PPV now becomes a much bigger disappointment than it already is, IMO.

I was expecting 6 PPVs a year, but 4. We wil see how it goes. I expect there to be a huge improvement in the story telling though. I look forward to it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If this has some good results, well WWE, time to reconsider the mothly PPV.

Not necessarily. TNA & WWE are two companies that do a very different level of business when it comes to ppvs. If the various online reports are true concerning TNA's ppv buys, then it seems their average monthly ppv buys are somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000. I think I read that BFG last year scored as much as 25,000 to 30,000. WWE does far more business in ppvs than TNA. Most WWE ppvs outside of the Big Four draw around 200,000 buys. Some more, some less, but generally within that ballpark. Those 200,000 ppv buys generates somewhere in the neighborhood of about $9 million for WWE while those 7,000 to 10,000 buys on average for TNA generate somewhere between $245,000 to $280,000. If the figures for BFG are correct, then it barely pulled in $1 million and it's TNA's WrestleMania.

It could make more sense for TNA to go to generally 4 ppvs a year from a business standpoint. If they're able to significantly increase ppv buys or these 4 shows, maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 30,000 to 50,000, then they'll be doing at least as well, if not significantly better, than they have been doing with 12.

As for WWE, it's much more of a risk going to a Big Four ppv scenario. They're potentially leaving millions upon millions of dollars lying on the table. It's a gamble on TNA's part as well but, frankly, WWE has potentially far more money to lose than TNA. For WWE to do as well with a Big Four format as they've done with 12, each of the Big Four would have to generate somewhere in the 800,000 to 1,000,000 buys range each and there's just no way to guarantee that will happen. WWE is also a publicly traded company that has a responsibility to people who own stock within the company.

I grant that it MIGHT be something WWE could consider if things work out well for TNA but I doubt it'll happen, at least not while Vince is running things.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I personally love it!! I think going with the “Big 4” format will help TNA out. As it stands right now is a odd number of weeks between each 4 PPVs. There are 8 weeks between Genesis and Lockdown. There are 13 weeks between Lockdown and Slammiversary. There are 18 weeks between Slammiversary and Bound For Glory. There are 14 weeks between Bound For Glory and Genesis 2014. I would, as usual, like to make a few adjustments. I think they should make it 13 weeks between each PPV.

Genesis – January
I would rather have a new name for the January PPV. How about “King Of The Mountain”??

Lockdown – April
Let’s get bold. Let’s go head to head with the WWE and put Lockdown in the first week of April.

Slammiversary – July
I know the anniversary is in June, but the first week of July would be okay as well.

Bound For Glory – October
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

As far as the One Night Only concept goes, I think they are going to be specials that can be taped at anytime and will have zero effect on Impact and the Big 4. We’ll see how it goes, I guess.

 

[fenderjapan]

If this has some good results, well WWE, time to reconsider the mothly PPV.

WWE's business is in a different galaxy than TNA's. Their PPV models should be different and rightfully so. The monthly WWE pay per view makes sense, especially now that they aren't brand exclusive.

I think TNA holding 4 ppv's a year is a good idea, the taped "One Night Only" shows I think are a terrible idea unless they are significantly cheaper (like 75% cheaper).

 

[Cereal Killer]

A fantastic idea. I wanted 6 PPVs but 4 is OK I guess. We get bigger build ups, more hype to PPVs, more bigger storylines and also, instead of being like "Oh, a PPV is coming, yay", fans will be more excited to see PPVs now as
there are only 4 a year.

I don't understand why Slammiversary has been moved to May even though TNA started in June once upon a time. That means we have to wait 5 months till BFG. We can wait, but will we stayed hooked? We have a lot of TNA in consecutive weeks now but what if the creative can't pull together and come up with something that gets the fans to keep watching, seeing how we have to wait 2/3/5 months for a PPV now. That is my only concern.

As far as "One night only" goes; I'm looking forward to this. I guess the name is stupid as it occurs more than once but the events that will take place this year look terrific. They will probably change year-by-year though. As far as the attendance figures will go, I think they will be fine. They have stars from previous years returning and great concepts from what I've read from someone else's post here.

I reckon you could question who TNA will bring or wonder if it can get the fans attention but I don't think we have to worry much. In 2010 they found decent people for Hardcore Justice and also for 2011's and 2012's Destination X. They threw on amazing matches. Also, now that they don't have to spend much on PPVs, they can pay people that are willing to show up for a good price and looking at the rumoured events, only a few of them involve stars that are not under contract by TNA.

So yeah, looking forward to this, it's risky but I want to see how it goes, what the product and PPVs will be like now and how ONO will take place.

 

[Shadow of Darkness]

To be honest I like the idea, but I don't think its freaking awesome.
Firstly, these ONO events will be terrific shows for the IWC and pure wrestling fans. But thinking of casual people its risk that Dixie and Bischoff took. I hope this ends good. and we could see some good things happening in TNA. But to enhance the PPV Buys TNA needs to uplift their creative department, which kinda sucks now. They are giving shit after shit. Although they have given Wrestling much more time, but their storylines are literally bullsh*t. Hope Bischoff finds a suitable writer soon. All the best TNA.

 

[JJYanks121]

No more room for error for TNA. There's a lot of pressure on these PPVs now.

Think about it. With the 12 PPV schedule, you would get plenty of TNA shows where NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN. People would always say "it's fine, they're building to something else". Of course, when you say that about Bound For freakin Glory, you sound dumb, but it's been said. Now, you have to deliver on these shows. You have to make things happen, have big moments, great matches, and generally give the fans a sense of "this was worth it". Keep in mind people will wait MONTHS now to see a show. If it isn't good or if it is boring or uneventful, you're going to get people saying "we waited 3 months for THIS??" That can't happen. Every show has to deliver or buyrates are going to TANK. Lockdown is going to be so important because it's the first show where there's a major gap in between Pay Per Views. They need a huge show with all sorts of eventful storyline stuff, great matches, and the like.

This is a big risk and one TNA can take, but they have to follow it up with EVENTFUL shows. Simply putting on "good wrestling" with nothing happening and bad booking won't cut it. Time to step up to the plate TNA. Gotta swing for those fences.