Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group, has given respect to the fanbase of AEW.
AEW airs two weekly television shows on networks owned by the company, with Dynamite on Wednesday nights on TBS and Rampage on Friday nights on TNT. They also air quarterly specials titled, Battle of the Belts, which air on TNT with the last two being broadcasted live after Rampage.
Kathleen Finch’s Comments
Speaking candidly during a Deadline-moderated keynote at the Realscreen conference in Austin, Texas, Finch noted that they find sports and sitcoms work well on the Turner networks.
Finch discussed AEW while talking about the company’s concerns about Dana White’s Power Slap show after his New Year’s Eve debacle where he was seen on video slapping his wife.
“This is an experiment. The goal is, we are making shows for our fans, that’s who we work for. Fans of wrestling have a lot of overlap with the fans of this and it’s huge on social media so the idea really is, if we can take something that’s huge on social, bring it to a linear audience giving the fans what they want. This may surprise you to know that I did not know much about wrestling before I took this job. I know, I seem like a wrestling fan, but I’m not. But I did have to learn a lot about the audience. A lot of families that watch [wrestling], I was very surprised to learn this. I have huge respect for this audience. AEW wrestling airs on two of our networks, TNT and TBS — on both nights it kills. Finding something that speaks to that audience, that would be gold.”
AEW’s TV rights deal will expire in 2024 with talks expected to happen this year.
