MLW Fusion

[famicommander]

Vice TV! Excellent get.

They already air Dark Side of the Ring, which averaged in the 200,000-400,000 viewer range last year.

There is no word on whether this will be Fusion or a new show.

[Shanahan]

Finally a wrestling announcement delivers.

You have to think it will be Fusion and Bein gets the B show.

[famicommander]

Finally a wrestling announcement delivers.

You have to think it will be Fusion and Bein gets the B show.

If there are two shows I think Fusion will stay on BeIN, Fubo, and DAZN to become the B-show while Vice gets a newly branded A-show.

If this is just more distribution for Fusion and there is no second show then I imagine they'll simply pull Fusion off Youtube and start airing it on Vice while nothing else really changes.

[NewROHFan2020]

Finally a wrestling announcement delivers.

You have to think it will be Fusion and Bein gets the B show.

If there are two shows I think Fusion will stay on BeIN, Fubo, and DAZN to become the B-show while Vice gets a newly branded A-show.

If this is just more distribution for Fusion and there is no second show then I imagine they'll simply pull Fusion off Youtube and start airing it on Vice while nothing else really changes.

PWInsuder is reporting this isn’t replacing the DAZN or BeIN deals.

“The ViceTV deal is not replacing the current deals with DAZN and BeIn Sport, PWInsider.com is told, In fact, the opposite is the case as Court Bauer is seeking to get MLW on as many broadcast and streaming platforms as possible with the idea of creating unique programming across the board when needed for as many deals as they can lock in. The mindset is that before, you wanted to be in one place but today, you want to entrench yourself in as many places as possible to maximize revenue and allow for different choices for fans to consume the content. If they can lock in five deals and need to create content for all five of those deals, that will be their priority.”

Just another channel to watch the same show. No financials of course. Another “big dollar deal” LMAO.

[famicommander]

Finally a wrestling announcement delivers.

You have to think it will be Fusion and Bein gets the B show.

If there are two shows I think Fusion will stay on BeIN, Fubo, and DAZN to become the B-show while Vice gets a newly branded A-show.

If this is just more distribution for Fusion and there is no second show then I imagine they'll simply pull Fusion off Youtube and start airing it on Vice while nothing else really changes.

PWInsuder is reporting this isn’t replacing the DAZN or BeIN deals.

“The ViceTV deal is not replacing the current deals with DAZN and BeIn Sport, PWInsider.com is told, In fact, the opposite is the case as Court Bauer is seeking to get MLW on as many broadcast and streaming platforms as possible with the idea of creating unique programming across the board when needed for as many deals as they can lock in. The mindset is that before, you wanted to be in one place but today, you want to entrench yourself in as many places as possible to maximize revenue and allow for different choices for fans to consume the content. If they can lock in five deals and need to create content for all five of those deals, that will be their priority.”

Just another channel to watch the same show. No financials of course. Another “big dollar deal” LMAO.

I was already aware that the DAZN, and Fubo, and BeIN deals were not being affected. That just means Fusion is staying there, as well as on Fubo. That does not confirm either way whether the Vice show is new or if it's Fusion. And it does not tell us whether the show will stay on Youtube or not.

Either way, there is no possible way this can be spun as a bad thing. Vice is a national cable outlet and Dark Side drew 200,000-400,000 viewers per week in season 2. Whether this is an ad-split deal, an ad-split+production costs deal, or a small rights fee deal it instantly bumps MLW up several levels from where they were prior. This puts them within spitting distance of Impact. It's possible they could even outdraw Impact's AXS numbers.

[NewROHFan2020]

The article states they’re not even going to air new content out the gate. That’s fucking stupid. You’re trying to get new viewers and you’re going to show them old shit. It didn’t work for ECW on TNN, and it’s not going to work here for —— months apparently.

[famicommander]

The article states they’re not even going to air new content out the gate. That’s fucking stupid. You’re trying to get new viewers and you’re going to show them old shit. It didn’t work for ECW on TNN, and it’s not going to work here for —— months apparently.

Not airing their current garbage marathon taping shows for their debut on big time cable is smart. They are waiting until they get a fresh set of tapings with fans in attendance.

The article also says that they are still in discussions with Discovery.

[Shanahan]

Starting with reruns or underground stuff is a bad move. If you have to wait till june to get some crowds so be it but coming out with reruns will just lose viewers in long run


"Hey...we were running 18 year old stuff for 3 months but next week we have new stuff"....ehhhhhh bad strategy.

[NewROHFan2020]

Vice is not “big time cable”. They’re tied with the MLB Network for the 111th most watched channel last year. TNT and USA are Top 20, including the Big 4 OTA channels.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/networ ... 234866801/

[NewROHFan2020]

Starting with reruns or underground stuff is a bad move. If you have to wait till june to get some crowds so be it but coming out with reruns will just lose viewers in long run


"Hey...we were running 18 year old stuff for 3 months but next week we have new stuff"....ehhhhhh bad strategy.

Exactly. It’s stupid, but so is having the same program on 6 different outlets or whatever the fuck Vice brings it to.

[famicommander]

Vice is not “big time cable”. They’re tied with the MLB Network for the 111th most watched channel last year. TNT and USA are Top 20, including the Big 4 OTA channels.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/networ ... 234866801/

It's higher on that list than AXS TV and much higher than BeIN. It's a better singular network than any wrestling promotion besides WWE or AEW has been able to land since Impact signed with Pop in late 2015. It gives them a legitimate chance to pull in Impact numbers. They're going to be the lead-in for a show that topped 400,000 viewers at one point last season.

Impact couldn't land a better deal than this, NJPW couldn't land a better deal than this, Lucha Underground was backed by AAA and MGM and couldn't land a better deal than this, Women of Wrestling is owned by the LA Lakers and couldn't land a better deal than this.

They're not losing BeIN, Fubo, or DAZN and they're allowed to continue discussions with Discovery.

My bet is they're going to start out with something like the MLW Anthology series they aired on Youtube and television during the pandemic. Run specials about their biggest stars until they can tape something worthy of their debut. They already have Anthology episodes they can air to introduce Low Ki, LA Park, Contra Unit, and the Von Erichs to their new audience. They could put together new ones for Injustice, the Dynasty, and TJP. That would buy them almost 2 months, it wouldn't expose their current sad product to the large Dark Side audience, it would introduce current talent to said audience, and it would be easy to use footage from 2017-2020 that was shot in HD in front of fans and looked much prettier than their current stuff.

[famicommander]

Starting with reruns or underground stuff is a bad move. If you have to wait till june to get some crowds so be it but coming out with reruns will just lose viewers in long run


"Hey...we were running 18 year old stuff for 3 months but next week we have new stuff"....ehhhhhh bad strategy.

Exactly. It’s stupid, but so is having the same program on 6 different outlets or whatever the fuck Vice brings it to.

Maybe they should move to a tiny streaming service with several free shows and charge money for it, then not even be able to run weekly shows. Then they'd really be on fire!

[NewROHFan2020]

Starting with reruns or underground stuff is a bad move. If you have to wait till june to get some crowds so be it but coming out with reruns will just lose viewers in long run


"Hey...we were running 18 year old stuff for 3 months but next week we have new stuff"....ehhhhhh bad strategy.

Exactly. It’s stupid, but so is having the same program on 6 different outlets or whatever the fuck Vice brings it to.

Maybe they should move to a tiny streaming service with several free shows and charge money for it, then not even be able to run weekly shows. Then they'd really be on fire!

Imagine having less social media presence and reaction than a wrestling promotion that only has that!

[famicommander]

Exactly. It’s stupid, but so is having the same program on 6 different outlets or whatever the fuck Vice brings it to.

Maybe they should move to a tiny streaming service with several free shows and charge money for it, then not even be able to run weekly shows. Then they'd really be on fire!

Imagine having less social media presence and reaction than a wrestling promotion that only has that!

Imaging thinking anybody gives a shit about that. Imagine having a big social media presence and only turning .0001% of them into customers/viewers. Imagine not knowing that people and companies can and do manipulate social media numbers with bots.

Imagine seriously trying to argue that having Twitter followers means more than having TV deals.

[NewROHFan2020]

Again, I never said it means more than TV deals. Just MLW isn’t popular.

[famicommander]

Again, I never said it means more than TV deals. Just MLW isn’t popular.

Popular enough to get a better TV deal than Impact, Lucha Underground, Women of Wrestling, or NJPW.

There can be no debate that MLW is the #5 promotion in the US.

[NewROHFan2020]

Again, I never said it means more than TV deals. Just MLW isn’t popular.

Popular enough to get a better TV deal than Impact, Lucha Underground, Women of Wrestling, or NJPW.

There can be no debate that MLW is the #5 promotion in the US.

You could have the best “TV deal” on the planet. If nobody watches, it doesn’t matter.

[famicommander]

Again, I never said it means more than TV deals. Just MLW isn’t popular.

Popular enough to get a better TV deal than Impact, Lucha Underground, Women of Wrestling, or NJPW.

There can be no debate that MLW is the #5 promotion in the US.

You could have the best “TV deal” on the planet. If nobody watches, it doesn’t matter.

If nobody were watching they couldn't have landed this deal in the first place. TV networks aren't charities. Vice obviously believes they will do well enough to justify pairing with their most successful show based on whatever numbers they're drawing on BeIN, Fubo, DAZN, international TV, and Youtube.

You continuously act amazed at the most basic reasoning possible.

[NewROHFan2020]

I’m not going to go over this with you again. No competent network or person would pay good money for content that is available on-demand and for free elsewhere.

Will be interesting to see the ratings for re-run shows. Going to be dreadful, especially in week 2 on.

You have some weird hardon for MLW and that’s fine, but you’re the only person who thinks MLW is important.

[famicommander]

I’m not going to go over this with you again. No competent network or person would pay good money for content that is available on-demand and for free elsewhere.

Will be interesting to see the ratings for re-run shows. Going to be dreadful, especially in week 2 on.

You have some weird hardon for MLW and that’s fine, but you’re the only person who thinks MLW is important.

You're completely delusional.

If a show has no value it doesn't consistently expand. If nobody were watching it, platforms would stop taking it. Court Bauer doesn't have the resources to buy a timeslot. So obviously whatever arrangement he has with these platforms (again, likely an ad revenue split) is successful enough for the platforms to continue airing the show and for Court Bauer to continue producing content.

Right now MLW has secured deals with:
BeIN Sports and BeIN Sports Espanol (US, Canada, Puerto Rico)
DAZN (US and Brazil)
Fubo Sports Network (US, Canada, Spain)
Sports Channel Network (UK and Ireland)
VOD365 (UK and Ireland)
Fight Klub Poland
StarTimes (several African countries)
Webedia (France)
MBC (Mauritius)
Wataa Fight Channel (several countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa)

And now Vice TV, which airs a wrestling documentary series that draws roughly twice the average audience of Impact on AXS.

Each of those platforms has their own standards and MLW has performed well enough for all of them to continue airing the show. MLW has not lost a single TV partner. They only continue to add them.

We've already established how ad revenue splits work. It's likely that none of those platforms are paying money directly to MLW, which is why none of them care about exclusivity. As long as they find it easy enough to sell their ads, they're happy. And that indicates that their audiences will watch regardless of Youtube; they probably don't know it's on Youtube at all just like a lot of the Youtube audience doesn't know about the TV channels. There are billions of videos on Youtube. To find MLW you have to know it's there. On television you discover things by flipping through your channels or on screen menu. There are only a few hundred channels even on the best cable packages.

As for Vice, we still don't know exactly what the deal is. They could be getting an exclusive show. They could be just another destination for Fusion. We have to wait and see.