ROH/HDNet stunning development

[Warner2BruceTD]

Ring of Honor completed its 2 year TV contract with HDNet. During this time "ROH on HDNet" fans witnessed many great matches, the introduction of the ROH Television Title, and the crowning of new tag champions, among other historical moments. HDNet will air new episodes of ROH until 4/4/11. Please continue to support ROH and watch these new shows on HDNet.

Negotiations are underway for HDNet to broadcast a live special in 2011, and we will bring you more information on that as it becomes available. Ring of Honor Wrestling would like to thank HDNet for the last two years, especially those behind the scenes that made it possible every single TV taping.

The final ROH on HDNet TV tapings are scheduled for January 21st & 22nd in Philadelphia, so come out and support ROH as we close out our weekly run on HDNet. Tickets are available here: http://www.rohstore.com/index.php?dispa ... egory_id=3

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Either ROH doesnt feel TV has given them a big enough boost to be worth the trouble, or negotiations are ongoing and this is just part of the process.

I think the show, without a doubt, helped make Final Battle successful due to the great TV build.

If the realtionship was sour, they wouldnt be negotiating for the live special.

I'm betting the contract ends up getting renewed.

[FedEx227]

God I hope so... they need this TV.

[EmpireWF]

It may be about time for Uncle Vinny to start floating them some money under the table.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I don't recall the details of the TV deal, in terms of whether ROH makes money off of it or not. There are no commercials, so there is no ad revenue. If they are paying for the time, I can see wanting to kill it, since the company really hasnt shown big growth since the show began. If HDNet is paying them, it's possible that this is just a negotiation ploy.

[FedEx227]

[Bigpapa42]

Best wrestling show on TV. Fuck. Godamnit. Fuck.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Based on crowd reactions at the PPV, I get the impression nobody watches the TV. It's weeks behind, and nobody gets the channel.

I do think the TV helped the PPV number, but the question, is did it convince casual viewers (if they even have any) to buy, or did it convince hardcore viewers who dont normally do iPPV to buy? I lean towards the latter, and if that is the case, those type of fans will still follow the promotion via the internet.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Somebody I trust just told me they weren't getting any money from the TV.

I know for a fact that the tapings were money losers, because the hardcores (myself included, when I lived in Jersey) stopped going when they saw it was ROH-lite with squashes and 5 minute matches. So what they do is heavily paper the tapings (one time I went and just strolled in, without anyone ever stopping me or asking me to pay), and the families and non hardcores that get in for free don't buy merch, so you end up with like 100 or 200 paid, without selling DVD's, but you still have to pay the talent. That's why they were paying the guys less to work tapings, which pissed a lot of the guys off.

So maybe they feel like the whole deal isnt worth it, because the HDNet exposure hasnt really led to much growth, aside from a successful Final Battle.

[Warner2BruceTD]

More...

It should be mentioned that ROH and HDNET have not ended their relationship completely. They are discussing a possible ROH special for 2011 and potential future collaborations beyond that.

The sources with ROH have made it known that they can look for a new TV deal and are already eyeing one currently. By all accounts, the split was a friendly one. After those final tapings on 1/21 and 1/22 in Philadelphia, they will take a break from running events in Philadelphia.

Sounding more and more like ROH is just looking for a better deal, one that nets some income as opposed to just being on TV for the sake of being on TV.

Of course, moving to ad based television requires delivering ratings, or you wont last very long.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Nobody has HDNet...so, its a fruitless endeavor for them.

[SHOGUN]

FUCK.

What the fuck, man. I finally got accustomed to looking forward to great wrestling on Monday nights and they are just going to take it away from me. The TV show is the main reason why I bought the iPPV. I really hope they re-up.

[Warner2BruceTD]

FUCK.

What the fuck, man. I finally got accustomed to looking forward to great wrestling on Monday nights and they are just going to take it away from me. The TV show is the main reason why I bought the iPPV. I really hope they re-up.

The fact that the split is amicable, and that other projects between the two are in the works, makes me believe that ROH has something better up their sleeve in terms of weekly TV.

If they can get a stronger network (and honestly, as cool as HDNet is, just about anything would be a step up) that is willing to pick up the bill on the production side (like HDNet was doing), but is also willing to split ad revenue, than this could end up a big win.

That scenerio, combined with live specials on HDNet, is actually pretty exciting.

Let it play out.

[Warner2BruceTD]

And remember that thread I made that disappeared? It was all about getting the hell out of Philly for a while. I guess somebody must have read it before it *poofed* into Rush's bandwith.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

ROH should have a weekly syndicated show that appears at 1am EST on MSG Network (or, Sun Sports, for me).

I'd watch.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Speaking of ROH on HDNet, how about non retarded Eugene taking on THE PRODIGY Mike Bennett yesterday?

I mark out for BRUTAL BOB EVANS