Take this news as pure speculation for right now but the press release for POP TV’s upfronts for their 2016 – 2017 schedule does not list TNA iMPACT! Wrestling. Although the presser notes that much of the network’s current TV shows are returning and eight new shows from scripted, live, music, documentary and the game show genres as well as some shows in development are listed, there is nothing regarding TNA iMPACT! Wrestling.
It is important to note that the press release, which bills the eight original shows as “400 hours of original programming,” was released on March 21st. This was before POP moved the Wednesday replay of iMPACT! to Saturday and then subsequently dropped the replay altogether. During the time since, Impact’s average viewership has risen slightly (from an average of 276,727 viewers to 288,000 viewers) while the demographic rating has been largely the same (from a 0.09 to a 0.092).
The networks upfront presentations, which generally take place in May as press events for the bigger companies, are when the networks tout their programming slate for the coming fall season in order to entice companies to pay for ad time during the shows.
The fact that POP left iMPACT! off the press release could mean one of many potential possibilities. TNA’s revenue from their POP TV deal comes from a share of the ad revenue, meaning that POP gets less than they would for a show they fully own and a report last month from PW Torch claimed that iMPACT! Wrestling draws a lower ad revenue than many of the shows POP airs, including Days of Our Lives which serves as a lead-in for iMPACT!. According to the site, the average unit cost for a thirty-second ad on iMPACT! is $335 while Days of Our Lives commands $1,100 – $1,250 on average for the same. This is due in part to the fact that POP courts a largely female demographic, while iMPACT! Wrestling aims for a male demo.
Of course, tthere is no concrete indication that POP has plans to do away with iMPACT! Wrestling in the immediate future, and this is all speculative. It could be that since Impact does command a lower ad rate, that Pop left it off in order to focus on the bigger revenue-drawing shows for them.
