AXS TV’s weekly pro wrestling series Impact! this Thursday (September 14) will reach a television milestone with its 1,000th episode.

The series, which launched initially on Fox Sports Net in 2004 and aired on several cable networks before moving to AXS TV in 2019, is the signature series for the Anthem Sports & Entertainment-owned Impact Wrestling organization. Formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Impact Wrestling content can be seen domestically on several platforms, including Anthem-owned AXS TV, FAST channel offerings on Pluto TV, Xumo, Samsung TV Plus, Roku and Sling, as well as via pay-per-view. 

Impact Wrestling president Scott D'Amore said the long-running linear cable series, along with the company's efforts to reach its core fans across numerous platforms, has helped Impact! remain viable to viewers over the years.

“Our linear footprint will always be an important part of the game plan, but I think digital is the future, and you’re going to see us continue to expand,” D’Amore said. "I think the ability to be very flexible in how the content gets out there and how you consume it has been a key part in staying out there and expanding the fan base of wrestling at a time when a lot of fan bases are seeing contraction." 

Click below to listen to an interview with D’Amore on the latest episode of the “TV Sportsplay” podcast. 

TBS averaged 1 million viewers for its inaugural AEW: Dynamite telecast Wednesday night, according to Nielsen.

Last night’s telecast of the pro wrestling series, which moved to TBS from TNT, posted an audience increase of 4% in total viewers compared to the last episode of the series on TNT airing December 29, said network officials. TBS’ AEW: Dynamite telecast also drew 558,000 adults 18-49, making it the second most-watched show on cable in the demo for the evening and the show’s best performance in the demo since September 29, 2021.

AEW: Dynamite, which debuted on TNT in 2019, moved to TBS to make room for additional TNT National Hockey League telecasts. The network began airing NHL games in October as part of a new seven-year rights deal with the league. 

Also: TBS Looks To Pin Down Wrestling Viewers with ‘AEW: Dynamite’

TNT still offers AEW’s weekly Friday series AEW: Rampage, and will air quarterly specials throughout the year beginning January 8 with Battle of the Belts. ■  

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) executives Brandi and Cody Rhodes will shine a light on their personal lives in TNT’s new unscripted series Rhodes to the Top, premiering Sept. 29.

The series goes inside the lives of the wrestling power couple as they navigate their growing family while helping to build AEW’s global wrestling empire, according to TNT. Brandi Rhodes said the series pulls no punches and provides an intimate look at both the business and personal lives of the couple, who were married in 2013. 

“The reality is that when you do a reality TV show, you should be willing to be real,” Brandi Rhodes said during the recent Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. “If you’re not, I don’t understand what the goal is. I just went into this with complete transparency as you will see.” 

Brandi and Cody Rhodes sat down with Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead in 2019, prior to the launch of TNT’s AEW: Dynamite series, to discuss the broad appeal of pro wrestling. 

Read Also: 'AEW: Dynamite' Wrestling Series to Debut on TBS in January

TNT's AEW: Dynamite series will officially move to TBS on Jan. 5, the company said Thursday.

The weekly pro wrestling series, which debuted on TNT in October 2019, will officially move to TBS as TNT continues to increase its sports portfolio with the launch of National Hockey League games in October, part of a new seven-year rights deal with the league. 

AEW: Dynamite has  generated strong ratings for the network, and has most recently finished as the top rated cable program on Wednesdays among adult 18-49 viewers for four weeks straight, according to the network

TNT will continue to air AEW's latest wrestling series, AEW: Rampage, on Friday nights, according to the network.  Also, TNT on Sept. 29 will launch a new AEW-themed reality series, Rhodes to the Top, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of AEW executives Cody and Brandi Rhodes.  

WarnerMedia has as extended its agreement with All-Elite Wrestling (AEW) through 2023, which will include a second TV series, the company announced Wednesday prior to its Television Critics Association winter tour presentation.

AEW, which currently distributes its weekly AEW:Dynamite series Wednesdays on TNT, will launch another series, although neither party would reveal specifics. The current series is averaging 1.2 million viewers on a Nielsen Live +7 Day basis.

Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max and president, TNT, TBS and truTV, confirmed that WarnerMedia will bring AEW's YouTube series AEW Dark to TNT, although its unclear what day and how many episodes will air on the network. 

“When [AEW CEO] Tony Khan first shared with me his idea of starting a new wrestling league, I was impressed by his audacity to go up against a contender that has been the only game in town for 20 years, and ultimately believed that together we could bring his vision for a new, authentic, gritty product to bear,” said Reilly. “The fans have spoken and after only three months, we have seen AEW shake up the wrestling world and this will only continue as we build upon this momentum.”

RELATED: Wrestling Flies High On TV Again

WarnerMedia will also continue to offer exclusive access to AEW’s pay-per-view matches, which launched last May on B/R Live. The sports streaming service will offer AEW’s next PPV event, Revolution, on Feb. 29.

“When we launched AEW one year ago, we wanted to start a revolution that would disrupt the wrestling business, but everyone said that it would take a strong weekly television partner to make AEW real in the eyes of everyone – above all, the fans,” said Tony Khan, president and CEO of AEW. “What virtually no one realized at the time was Kevin Reilly and TNT were committed to this very same movement from Day One, and their belief in us made it possible for AEW to think and act big from the start. Here we are, only three months into Wednesday Night Dynamite, and now we’ve been extended through 2023! We’re now making the ultimate statement that the team of AEW and TNT is here to stay and to bring fans more of the great wrestling that the fans demand and deserve.”

FS1 in November will launch a weekly late night WWE-themed studio show, the sports network announced Thursday.

The one-hour WWE Backstage series will air Tuesdays at 11 pm beginning Nov. 5, and will feature the latest WWE pro wrestling news, according to the network. WWE broadcaster Renee Young and WWE personality Booker T will host the show, which will also feature a rotating cast of current and former WWE Superstars, said FS1.

FS1 will offer a preview of the show on Oct. 15, following the conclusion of baseball’s postseason American League Championship Series Game 3 telecast.

The launch of WWE Backstage will come on the heels of Fox Broadcasting’s Oct. 4 debut of the weekly WWE SmackDown series, which moves to Fox from USA Network. 

Viceland in April will step into the pro wrestling ring with a new new docu-series, Dark Side Of The Ring.

The six-episode series, which debuts April 10,  will examine the collision of fantasy and reality in the singular universe of professional wrestling with stories around some of the sport's all-time greats, according to Viceland.

Wrestlers profiled in the series include Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Bret Hart, Bruiser Brody, Von Erich and The Fabulous Moolah, said network officials. 

Dark Side of the Ring is produced y Vice Canada, with Evan Husney, Ed Hatton and Chris Grosso serving as producers, and Jason Eisener service as director, said Vice.  

USA Network has commissioned 14 additional episodes of its docu-reality series Miz & Mrs, the network announced Tuesday.

The series, which follows the lives of WWE Superstars Mike ‘The Miz’ and Maryse Mizanin, launched last month with six episodes. The series’ first three episodes are currently averaging 1.7 million viewers, according to the network.

Mr. & Mrs is produced by the WWE and Bunim/Murray Productions, with Gil Goldschein, Farnaz Farjam-Chazan, Kevin Dunn and Russell Jay serving as executive producers.

ABC’s Billboard Music Awards easily bested HBO’s Game of Thrones on the social media battlefield Sunday night {May 22), according to Nielsen.

Audiences sung the praises of the annual awards show on Twitter, generating 1.7 million tweets from 495,000 unique Twitter authors to top all shows for the day, according to Nielsen’s daily Twitter TV ratings report.

HBO’s Game of Thrones episode generated 307,000 tweets, followed by the WWE Network/pay-per-view distributed WWE Extreme Rules event, which tallied 268,000 tweets to finish third.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s thrashing of the Golden State Warriors in game three of the NBA’s Western Conference finals playoff telecast on TNT drew 648,000 tweets from 281,000 unique Twitter users to finish first among all live sports events for the day, according to Nielsen.