AEW’s existing media rights deal with Warner Bros Discovery is up at the end of this year, and the wrestling fans & industry observers are anxiously awaiting news about the company’s next television/streaming deal.
Tony Khan, AEW’s owner, president & head of creative, has made it clear his preference is to remain with WBD — and not just by naming two of the company’s secondary titles after the cable networks Dynamite, Rampage & Collision air on.
He continued to do so in a new interview with WGN Radio promoting next week’s AEW show in Chicago. The July 3 Dynamite at Wintrust Arena has just been announced as this year’s “Beach Break” show, which will promote Discovery’s upcoming John Cena-hosted “Shark Week”.
“I love working at TBS and TNT so much. We do five hours Wednesday on TBS, and Friday and Saturday on TNT. We’re having great talks with Warner Bros. Discovery. I just had great talks with them yesterday. I’m so blessed to work with these great people and as somebody who loves wrestling, it means a lot to me that we brought wrestling back to TBS and TNT. [I] know that so many of the listeners who are wrestling fans used to watch wrestling on TBS and TNT and for some of the really young fans, for a long time, almost 20 years, there was no wrestling on TBS and TNT. It’s what I grew up on. It meant a lot with the launch of AEW, that we bring All Elite Wrestling every week, Wednesdays on TBS, and weekends on TNT.”
Khan singled out WBD’s Chief Executive Officer for praise as he continued:
“I want to keep bringing the shows here as long as possible. We have a great partnership and we’re having great talks. I hope that we are with TBS and TNT for a very, very long time. We’re really happy to be here and I’m really blessed to work for a great leader like Mr. David Zaslav, who has been so great to AEW, and helped us expand [with] more events and expand TNT Saturdays, and has helped us continue to have these great Wednesday nights on TBS.”
Not everyone who’s worked with Zaslav would describe the experience as a “blessed” one, as the CEO’s penchant for cost-cutting has caused him to have a rocky relationship with creators like the ones responsible for movies (including the Cena-starring Coyote vs. Acme) that WBD’s taken tax write-offs on rather than releasing them.
But it’s hard to say WBD’s been a bad partner to AEW, and the partners both seem happy with one another. Plus, flattery is unlikely to hurt as Khan’s dream of staying on TBS & TNT “for as long as possible”.
We’ll see if it works out for him, or if AEW becomes a future casualty of Zaslav’s belt-tightening.
H/t: Fightful
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