Tony Khan – ‘WBD Is Paying AEW For Collision’
During the post-show media scrum after AEW Double or Nothing 2023, AEW President Tony Khan discussed the new deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for AEW Collision.
While Khan didn’t reveal the specifics of the deal, he stated that Warner Bros. Discovery is indeed paying AEW for Collision in addition to Dynamite and Rampage.
Khan also briefly touched on the broadcast plans for All In 2023 on August 27 in London, noting that there would be an announcement but he couldn’t speak about it at the moment out of respect to WBD network partners.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the TV deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for Collision: “First of all, not really supposed to get into all of the specific details of the partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery but I would say the time that’s left on the previous deal, the current deal, is the same duration as what we were doing before. It’s a new deal. It’s a different scope than what we previously had with Warner Bros. Discovery, which is exciting for us. It creates a new opportunity for us to do another two hours of Saturday night live wrestling and it’s really going to change the company. But the length of the deal is the same as what we started with when we signed the extension in early 2020 right before the lockdown.”
On if they are being paid by WBD for Collision: “Yes, we’re definitely being paid for Collision and being paid very well. Yes, in addition to Dynamite and Rampage. We got a new contract, I think it’s fair to say. It’s more money, but it’s the same length of time. I was very excited about it. It was a big opportunity for us. It’s certainly very expensive to produce a two-hour live TV show, and on the weekend, doing it every week, it’s not going to be cheap, but it’s going to be great. I’m so excited about Collision. It’s going to be a great show. It’s going to be something really great for AEW. We have something really strong going with AEW Dynamite, we had a really strong TV rating this past week, 0.32. There’s still some tough competition and I think as the summer goes on, we have an opportunity to get back to where we were last summer. Last summer, we were consistently the #1 show on cable, the #1 or #2 every week, was it like, 17 weeks in a row we were #1 or #2 through the summer last year. I think we have a chance to have another really hot run through this summer with Dynamite and then start something really new with Collision. It was a great opportunity for the company to get more revenue, to do more TV, but also grow another brand in addition to what we do with Dynamite and Rampage and now Collision and have five hours of television. It will be added production costs, and now we’re not producing Dark and Elevation, so there is some cost saving there. There will be increased costs, but it will also definitely increase revenue through, not only the ticket sales on Saturdays and the merch sales, but through license fees that we’re making because of an incremental change, increasing our compensation for Collision.”
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