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.”
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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.”
