TNA Finds Possible New Home For Impact

An offer has been made, but will TNA sign on the dotted line?

Befunky Impact Wrestling TNA Wrestling continues to be the talk of the wrestling world as of late with the fate of the company at stake. Their flagship program, Impact, is in danger of being kicked off of Spike TV, putting the company in jeopardy. Now, reports are coming in that an offer has been extended to TNA Wrestling and that Impact may have found a new channel to air on. As previously reported, TNA reached a temporary agreement with Spike TV to air Impact through the remainder of the year. Originally, the contract between the promotion and cable network was set to expire sometime at the end of September. Subsequently, the program was moved to Wednesday nights, beginning last week. Impact didn€™t fare too well on their new night, due to lackluster promotion on Spike€™s end. Furthermore, the decision was made only one week prior, leaving many fans unaware of the move. The show drew paltry numbers -- only 852,000 viewers in total. However, with Smackdown€™s imminent return to Thursdays, the move to Wednesday will most likely end up being a wise decision. Now, reports have surfaced that TNA has been offered a new television deal from the Velocity channel. The Velocity network is owned by Discovery Communications -- the creator and operator of the Discovery Channel. The channel is HD-exclusive and reportedly available in 48 million homes across the United States. While Spike TV and TNA have both commented on the current situation by saying that negotiations are ongoing, it is believed that Spike is being courteous to the wrestling promotion, so as not to damage them. Supposedly, Spike is not interested in continuing their partnership with TNA as they view the company and its Impact program as a lame-duck product. While TNA is pleased to have been offered a new deal from Velocity, they are disappointed with the deal itself. The contract from Velocity is said to be less than perfect. Reportedly, the network is offering less than a quarter of what Spike paid for the rights to air Impact. This would leave TNA in an awkward situation, where they may have to find another way to generate revenue in order to stay afloat. Otherwise, it€™s speculated that the Velocity deal may not be a viable option. TNA will likely continue to look for other offers, and are hoping that this contract from Velocity has broken the ice, leading to further offers from other networks. In the mean time, TNA Impact will continue to air on Spike TV through the end of the year. Hopefully, for TNA€™s sake, they can find a new and viable network deal for Impact, but time is quickly running out. Will TNA take the Velocity deal or attempt to find Impact a home elsewhere? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.