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Ring of Honor's current contract with HDNet is up in April and hasn't, and seemingly won't be renewed is the tl;dr version of what the link says. Although this may seem like a blow to the biggest independent wrestling company in the U.S., I see it as more of a mixed bag.
Yes, this will leave ROH without a television deal of any kind, which is definitely a step backwards. The article also states that the TV ratings for ROH on HDNet were low anyway, helping the decision from HDNet's side to not renew the contract. Finally, the loss of exposure will hurt, as the article states that ROH's DVD sales, the company's main income source, are slipping.
While those negatives are a bit unsettling, I think the potential positives more than make up for them. First, ROH has gained a new outlet since starting on HDNet in GoFightLive.tv, the home of ROH's Internet pay-per-views. This is a huge new market for ROH's product, and allows the company to earn money 3 ways from shows (tickets, iPPV, DVD).
Next, even though the ratings were supposedly low (I don't know them offhand), HDNet is a channel with extremely limited viewership. This leads into my next point, which is the fact that this opens the door up for HDNet to upgrade their television deal. A return to HDNet is still a possibility, and the network and ROH have had talks of having a live ROH show separate from the expiring deal some time this year. With that said, if ROH can get a deal on even a lower-end cable channel, exposure of the company will be much greater than it was on HDNet and the expansion of ROH can continue.
What are your thoughts on this?
Ring of Honor's current contract with HDNet is up in April and hasn't, and seemingly won't be renewed is the tl;dr version of what the link says. Although this may seem like a blow to the biggest independent wrestling company in the U.S., I see it as more of a mixed bag.
Yes, this will leave ROH without a television deal of any kind, which is definitely a step backwards. The article also states that the TV ratings for ROH on HDNet were low anyway, helping the decision from HDNet's side to not renew the contract. Finally, the loss of exposure will hurt, as the article states that ROH's DVD sales, the company's main income source, are slipping.
While those negatives are a bit unsettling, I think the potential positives more than make up for them. First, ROH has gained a new outlet since starting on HDNet in GoFightLive.tv, the home of ROH's Internet pay-per-views. This is a huge new market for ROH's product, and allows the company to earn money 3 ways from shows (tickets, iPPV, DVD).
Next, even though the ratings were supposedly low (I don't know them offhand), HDNet is a channel with extremely limited viewership. This leads into my next point, which is the fact that this opens the door up for HDNet to upgrade their television deal. A return to HDNet is still a possibility, and the network and ROH have had talks of having a live ROH show separate from the expiring deal some time this year. With that said, if ROH can get a deal on even a lower-end cable channel, exposure of the company will be much greater than it was on HDNet and the expansion of ROH can continue.
What are your thoughts on this?