could ECW have survived on another network

[the Albanian viper]

now im not talking about the crappy WWE ECW im talking about the original ECW. Now we all know that ECW was on TNN/SPIKE until they ceased operations in 00-01 now this thread is about what tv stations could ecw have been on if they weren't bought out by wwe. I say for the u.s. market keep it on scifi but for canada have it on space fight network. The reason for this is because no one under the age of 14 watches these channels atleast up here in canada idk about the usa. So to wrap this up I would like to know your opinions on what networks you would have liked to see ecw on

 

[schwoebel81]

Comedy Central might have been the only network where the original ECW could have been successful a decade ago. I don't think Comedy Central would have tried to censor ECW programming as much as TNN/Spike did (considering how much they let South Park get away with).

 

[Headman]

ECW owed a lot of money. I don't know if a new tv contract could have saved it because in the end the company just wasn't making as much money as it was spending. I think to survive they would have had to sell the company to some kind of giant corperation to get them out of debt, but it would seem as though the only corperation interested at the time was the WWE.

 

[LuChava]

No.

Paul Heyman as great a wrestling mind as he is, was not a great business man. ECW was to eager to join the big two that it killed them. ROH is showing everyone including TNA how you build a wrestling company. They could not keep their talent, provide the same type of production value as wcw and wwe, and most of all could not make a buck.

No network was going show the blood, language, or semi nude women getting beaten. They became popular through VHS tapes but even then RF Videos cashed in not ECW. They were ahead of their time, today they could have existed and turned huge profits with Internet streaming being what it is. They could have existed on the net with extreme brutal matches and on Versus or Spike with more technical matches and highlights of the gore.

But it's to late, ECW has been reduced to just a Chant that most people have no idea what it truly means.

 

[boozinjedi]

Paul Heyman as great a wrestling mind as he is, was not a great business man.

And there you have it folks!!

Paul was absolutely amazing when it came booking matches/angles/shoots
BUT he couldn't balance the books to save his life!

It might've gone on for a couple of years,BUT it would've gone down the same route.

 

[INDYjon22]

Doubtful. ECW may have been popular but they were losing money and the simplicity of it is, if you are losing money you won't stay in business very long. ECW had a great run, but it's time just ran out. Had it switched to another network it probably would have survived a little bit longer but eventually the popular style of wrestling still would have changed and ECW would have died because of it. Remember the Attitude era ended around the end of 2001, beginning of 2002, and ECW pandered to the same target audience. As much as I loved hardcore wrestling, you couldn't base an entire program around it, especially in 2002. Some would be fine, but an entire broadcast just becomes boring. So yeah, I think ECW would have survived a little bit longer had it moved to another network but it would have eventually closed regardless because Paul Heyman wasn't good with money.

 

[AttitudeAJM]

People saying Paul Heyman wasn't a good businessman don't have a grip as to the situation. ECW never made money from the beginning. Their main revenue streams were ticket sales and merchandise. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to pay the bills.

ECW was not unlike any other entertainment company. They went as long as they could but couldn't find an investor to keep the company going. Look at ROH. They're only still in business because they found a new owner who was willing to give more money in the hopes that it could stand on its own.

Anyway, to the topic. Could ECW have survived on another station? Abo****ely! So long as the deal they agreed to didn't have them paying the major portion of production costs.