By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling issued the following press release to announce that their weekly television series is moving to AXS-TV.
IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment and one of the world’s largest professional wrestling organizations, announced today it has entered into an agreement to broadcast its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! nationally across the U.S. on AXS TV, a leading music, sports, entertainment and lifestyle channel in which Anthem Sports & Entertainment recently acquired a majority interest.
Immediately following IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year Bound For Glory, which takes place on Oct. 20 in Chicago, IMPACT! will begin airing weekly on AXS TV. The program will continue to simulcast globally on IMPACT Wrestling’s official Twitch channel.
“IMPACT Wrestling is a perfect fit for AXS TV’s slate of live sporting events and combat sports content,” said Ed Nordholm, Chief Corporate Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment and President of IMPACT Wrestling. “The newest addition to our growing portfolio of media assets, AXS TV’s audience perfectly aligns with our passionate IMPACT Wrestling fan base, and this move increases the reach for our weekly program with distribution in over 50 million homes. We could not ask for a better home and are excited by the opportunities to work with Mark Cuban and Anschutz Entertainment Group, our partners in AXS TV, to bolster IMPACT Wrestling’s presence in the market, as we continue to deliver action-packed and innovative weekly programming featuring some of the most athletic and gifted stars in the professional wrestling industry.”
Showcasing top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Brian Cage, plus Rob Van Dam, Rhino, Moose, Eddie Edwards, Sami Callihan, Rich Swann, Michael Elgin, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Gail Kim, Tessa Blanchard, Taya Valkyrie, Tenille Dashwood, Rosemary, Madison Rayne and Su Yung, IMPACT! has been a leading destination for professional wrestling fans, televised globally in 120 countries since its inception in 2002, while growing its popularity and reach on YouTube, Twitch, Pluto and social media platforms.
For more information, visit www.impactwrestling.com and www.axs.tv.
Powell’s POV: The move was obviously expected once Impact’s parent company Anthem purchased a majority stake in AXS-TV. The big thing missing from the press release is the night of the week and the time slot. I’m actually surprised that Impact isn’t running its first show on AXS on October 1, which is the first Tuesday that Smackdown won’t air on USA Network due to its move to Fox on October 4.
So they buy another network since they failed to market themselves and they automatically fire everybody without assessing whether some of the AXS employees would help improve the Impact product? That’s enough for me. Idiots!
I’m pretty sure Anthem have other priorities extending beyond just Impact…
If you think firing 40 people while acquiring a TV network is “firing everybody” then you’re the idiot.