In an interview with Variety.com, TNT president Kevin Reilly discussed the network’s contract extension with AEW Dynamite. Here are the highlights.
Why they’ve extended the deal with AEW:
“I just had this idea that this was the time to invest. This is a startup. It’s already over-delivered out of the gate. That’s really when you want to hit the gasoline a little bit. The guys already have ideas about additional talent and things they want to do and I wanted to incentivize them as a partner to do that. We also wanted to gave fans and talent who potentially want to come work with us the sense that this is here to stay. You can invest in it, it’s here to stay, and it’s only going to get better.”
On why they want to air AEW Dark:
“We just figured, ‘Let’s bring it onto the network and make it a place where you truly plant up and coming talent. I think we’ll start doing more packages there and filming some behind-the-scenes stuff, not for the matches that night but with other talent to plant stories and grow things that could eventually become another show in and of itself.”
