There was a discussion on John Arezzi’s Pro Wrestling Spotlight podcast about Warner Bros. Discovery running AEW ads during sports programming. Numerous adverts have aired during TBS’ coverage of the MLB Playoffs.
Bob Smith, co-host of Pro Wrestling Spotlight, questioned the strategy of including footage of people going through tables and Chris Jericho attacking ring announcers. Arezzi stated that he has heard that Warner Bros. Discovery is pleased with the product and that the advertisements are part of a strategy.
“They’re trying to make it a sport,” Arezzi said. “That’s what the strategy is. The strategy is that they are pushing AEW into the sports category, not the entertainment category. They’re increasing that because of the new ownership because Warner Bros. is now Warner Bros. Discovery.”
Arezzi continued, “Everything I hear of what’s going on even with TNT, it’s gonna be turning into a more sports-centric network. So they are now putting their resources behind these promo announcements to increase ratings. So whether or not they’re tasteful in regards to the violence and the blood, there’s a method to the madness.”
“I’m privy to a lot of insider conversations at least on the Warner Bros. Discovery side. I have a lot of people there in very high executive positions that I’ve known for many years that I worked for when I was in television here in Nashville. The same people who are now the leaders of Warner Bros. Discovery on the ad sales front. They see this property, AEW, as someone they want to be in business with long-term. They had a contract which was absorbed by them when they merged that wasn’t the sweetest deal for TNT and TBS. It was kind of one-sided. So now what they are trying to do is to kind of collaborate and work together so they can work on the next long-term deal with them. I can’t get into it too much but there’s a lot of faith behind the AEW product right now from the folks at Warner Bros. Discovery.”
The entire podcast can be found at patreon.com/JohnArezzi, while last week’s podcast can be found below.
