The Pro Wrestling Torch is reporting that there has been lots of talk regarding TNA’s programming last week with the “This is TNA!” special airing on February 12 (which drew a 1.2 rating) and a new episode of TNA iMPACT! that aired on February 15 (which only drew a 0.6 rating going head-to-head with WWE Raw). Given the number TNA drew on Monday night going unopposed with WWE Monday Night Raw being preempted in the United States until Thursday due to the Westminster Dog Show, many were left scratching their heads as to why TNA chose to do a “Best Of” show instead of a new live show building off current storylines in the company and especially the day after the Against All Odds PPV.
According to reports, one reason why TNA didn’t make this move was the company’s issue with having to “learn on the fly” so to speak on how to insert commercials into a live broadcast. While that may sound like a strange reason seeing as TNA produces live three-hour PPV events every month, the company does not have live TV experience. So doing live TV with commercial feeds requires another level of production that TNA isn’t currently equipped for right now. It should also be noted that TNA President Dixie Carter wanted to change the name of the special from “This is TNA!” to “This is TNA Wrestling!” a week before it aired so viewers looking through a guide would see “wrestling” in the title. However, Carter was told that it was too late to make the change.
As for the new episode of iMPACT! last Thursday, TNA officials obviously weren’t thrilled about the lower rating iMPACT! garnered on Thursday, but also weren’t expecting a strong number at the same time. Says one TNA source, “Last week, we knew we’d be spanked by WWE on Thursday. The real test is this week, without competition from RAW on Thursday.” So while the company had a hard time drawing viewers going up against WWE Raw, if they are able to improve on the 1.2 record rating from two weeks ago (which drew a record 1.6 million viewers), it could likely be attributed to earning new viewers thanks to the Monday night special last week.
While many in the wrestling media were quick to bury TNA following its subpar numbers last week, especially going head-to-head with WWE on last Thursday night, one TV industry source claims the whole situation regarding TNA is a wash, but that the company isn’t in bad shape right now. This TV source added quote, “Anyone who knows anything about the TV industry knows that you put a check mark in the success column next to TNA’s name. It’s one of Spike’s top three programs each week in its timeslot in the male 18-34 demo. TNA is more likely to leave Spike because of a better offer from another cable station down the line than Spike is to cancel TNA.”
When one TNA source was asked if TNA has any plans of presenting a live TV show on Spike TV anytime soon, the source added quote, “The internal attitude is we’ll go live when we’re ready. We just don’t feel ready yet.”
