Impact Wrestling announces UK and Ireland television deal renewal

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Impact Wrestling issued the following press release to announce the renewal of their television deal with Channel 5 in the UK and Ireland.

TORONTO | LONDON – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today a new broadcast deal with Viacom-owned Channel 5 to broadcast its flagship weekly show IMPACT! on 5STAR across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland starting on April 26, 2019.

This is a renewal of the partnership of IMPACT Wrestling’s deal with Channel 5, which launched IMPACT! on 5Spike in spring 2017. 5STAR, which is also part of the Channel 5 stable, is available on Sky TV (128), Freeview (30), Freesat (131), Virgin Media (151) and other DTT platforms.

New episodes of IMPACT! will premiere on 5STAR from 26th April at 11pm with weekly episodes airing in the same timeslot on Friday nights.

“Since IMPACT Wrestling’s inception in 2002, the UK has always been one of our most passionate markets,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We are excited to extend our broadcast partnership with Channel 5 and launch our weekly programming on 5Star, whose younger audience more effectively aligns with our core fan base.”

Cherry Yeandle, Senior Manager, Acquisitions and Co-Productions said: “We are thrilled to be continuing our relationship with IMPACT Wrestling and are looking forward to bringing all of the high-octane action to 5STAR. As well as quenching the appetite of the UK fans with this flagship weekly show, we are excited to introduce a new audience to all the wrestling drama – with its young audience demographic, we see 5STAR as a perfect fit.”

In 2018, IMPACT Wrestling enjoyed strong weekly audiences on 5Spike and a social media reach of over 48 million in the UK.

IMPACT Wrestling showcases top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact, Rob Van Dam, Brian Cage, Moose, Killer Kross, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan, Mexican superstars such as Pentagon Jr. and Fenix, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Champion Taya Valkyrie, third-generation star Tessa Blanchard and Rosemary.

For more information, visit www.impactwrestling.com and www.channel5.com/5star.

Powell’s POV: It’s hard to say much about any television deals without knowing the terms of the deal, but it’s obviously good to keep the revenue stream alive and to keep the show available in the UK and Ireland.

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