The executives at TNT and WarnerMedia are incredibly pleased with AEW Dynamite’s ratings. For that ratings success and beating NXT weekly, TNT wants to do more business with All Elite Wrestling. The new deal for AEW is a significant increase from what they got before.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the new deal with TNT is for four years and worth $175 million. That is just under $45 million per year. The TV deal also includes WarnerMedia having the option to renew the show for 2024, which would include another significantly increased price.
From the press release yesterday, the deal also includes another night of AEW programming. At this time, no details were given on when the second show will air. It is worth noting that WarnerMedia oversees TNT, TBS, truTV, and HBO Max, the new streaming services will launch in May.
The idea is that the second show might air on a network other than TNT. HBO Max would seem like an option to air AEW Dark, the series that premieres every Tuesday night on the AEW YouTube channel.
“When the new show launches, the Wednesday tapings would expand and also include matches taped for the streaming show Dark which is not going away. This means there will be four hours a week of the product, allowing more time to showcase more talent, which has been limited by the current format.”
Dave Meltzer
Could AEW Dark be moving over to TNT off of YouTube?
That second #AEW series will be #AEWDark, Turner President Kevin Reilly told me. It will be on TNT, it will be weekly but maybe not 52x/year. We do not yet have a weeknight for it, but obv. “Dark” is currently a Tuesday show on YouTube. #TCA20 #AEWDynamite
— Tony Maglio (@TonyMaglio) January 15, 2020