Destination America is not planning to air TNA Impact Wrestling past the third quarter of this year, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Two main reasons were given for the cancellation of TNA shows. While Destination America officials considered the ratings for Impact Wrestling to be good, the numbers were not good enough to justify the cost of the programming. The other problem was that a number of the cable network’s advertisers specifically did not want to advertise during Impact Wrestling.
A public acknowledgment is expected to be made when the station reveals its 2015-16 television season prime-time lineup.
Following the March 13, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, which saw viewership sink to a new low, Destination America officials made the decision to cancel Saturday morning programming under the belief that eliminating the replay would help the Friday numbers—the only numbers they care about. Although there was a slight increase, all first-run programming with the exception of Impact Wrestling airing multiple times on Friday nights was axed due to the cable network’s difficulty in selling advertisement time.
For the May 8, 2015 “live” episode of Impact Wrestling, Destination America purchased an advertisement in the USA Today newspaper to promote the show, believing that additional advertising and it being almost live would lead to an increased rating. Instead, Impact Wrestling did its second lowest number on Destination America, and the replay, which is primarily watched by viewers in the West Coast, drew a record low.
According to Meltzer’s report, Dixie Carter was made aware of Destination America’s decision early last week although it doesn’t appear that most of the talent knew anything since word of this had not gotten around. Her knowledge of the cancellation may have played a part in Impact Wrestling moving to Wednesday nights, but that is uncertain. Carter didn’t respond to any questions on the subject from Meltzer.
Meltzer noted in his report that Destination America’s decision has not been finalized. Employees at the station, however, not been told anything new since a memo was issued to them informing them of the cancellation.
