TNA Lose UK Television Deal With Challenge TV
More bad news for Dixie Carter's ailing promotion.
TNA's trials and tribulations continued this morning with the announcement that Challenge TV, their British television partner, have stated that they will no longer be carrying Impact Wrestling as of January 2017.
Challenge have issued the following statement:-
We know that many TNA fans will be disappointed to hear this, but we wanted to let you all know that as of January 2017, Challenge will no longer be the home of TNA in the UK. TNA has been a huge and important part of Challenge’s story over the years and we will treasure some great moments like the British Bootcamp and UK tours. We have been proud to bring UK viewers coverage of TNA and have huge respect for the company and its fans. TNA is packed with great talent and we know they will continue to do great things -- we wish them all the best.
TNA's struggles with American television networks are well documented. The company have never recovered the viewers lost when their Spike TV deal collapsed in 2014, and Impact struggles to draw audiences of more than 350,000 on Pop TV today.
Despite this, TNA's TV deals in India and the United Kingdom were among their biggest assets, with the UK standing as one of their most successful global markets. TNA's British tours regularly attract some of the company's biggest audiences, though they are yet to announce a tour next year.
TNA have issued a response to Challenge's statement with one of their own. Issued through their Facebook page, TNA claim that the delay between Impact airing in the USA (Thursday) and UK (Sunday) was the deciding factor, and that they'd soon be announcing a new UK deal that would allow them to show Impact closer to its American airtime.
TNA's statement can be found in full below:-
We are proud to have had such a great relationship with Challenge, and appreciate how the channel brought Impact Wrestling to our avid viewers through the years. In today's world, spoilers are inevitable. We've heard from the amazing fans in the UK and know you do not want to wait 3-5 days to watch the program after it airs in the US. Our goal is to broadcast Impact Wrestling in the UK as close to the US premiere as possible. We look forward to announcing that opportunity soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we hope you continue to watch Impact Wrestling on Challenge, Sunday nights at 9pm, as well as Xplosion and pay-per-views and follow us on social media. Thank you.