We can confirm that we have been told by a few TNA
sources that the company is indeed done with Spike
TV and is expected to begin airing on a new partner
in January of 2015. For those asking why so many
people from within the company were tweeting about
Spike and Bellator last night, we have been told that
TNA and Spike are not having an acrimonious break
up. TNA will still have a connection with Spike
through Bobby Lashley and at this point, the
December episodes of Impact are still scheduled to
air on Spike at this time. Unlike when Spike cut off
negotiations with WWE years ago, costing them
money in their TV deal with USA as their leverage
was taken away, this situation is said to be the
opposite.
The new TV deal is said to be extremely close to
completed, if it’s not already. We have heard from
numerous sources that it will be a multi-year deal,
which means TNA will have at least two more years
on the air. It should be noted that many have
speculated that the company was going to die at the
end of the year, as some felt that they wouldn’t be
able to find a new home for Impact. Barring and
unforeseen development, that will not be the case.
TNA will live on.
All signs point to it getting done in the next week, as
Dixie Carter tweeted last week that they would
announce a deal soon. We have been told that it will
air on a smaller, lesser known network. While no one
will confirm where the show will end up, there has
been a lot of talk that it will end up on Destination
America, which is owned by Discovery
Communications (you can see if you have access to
the channel by clicking here). It is available in a little
more than half of the country, though speaking
personally it is not currently available on the plan I
have with Cox. I will have to pay to add it here in Las
Vegas.
All signs point to the fact that the new deal will bring
in less money than the old one did, at least at the
start. However, with the new deal the company will
have more opportunities in other areas. They will
reportedly be able to have more programming on the
network than just Impact and they will be the
bellwether brand for the new partner, putting them
in a position where they will be a top priority for the
new network. They will be in a position to potentially
help grow a network. Even if they can’t, once the deal
is signed they will have at least two more years to
“start again” and that will be their plan once they
start doing new shows in January.
Really?
