IMPACT Wrestling Announces New UK TV Deal with Spike UK

TORONTO | LONDON – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. announced today a new broadcast deal for IMPACT Wrestling to be televised exclusively on Spike UK, making its flagship weekly show available throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

From Spring 2017, IMPACT Wrestling, TNA pay-per-views, including One Night Only specials will be available on Spike UK, and TNA Xplosion exclusive to My5, which is part of the Channel 5 stable available on Sky TV (160), Freeview (31), Freesat (141), Virgin Media (154) and other DTT platforms.

New episodes of IMPACT Wrestling will premiere on Friday nights, quenching the appetite of U.K. fans to view IMPACT Wrestling within hours of the US premiere broadcast.

“Since our acquisition of IMPACT Wrestling, growing the brand in the UK has been one of our most important initiatives,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Spike UK to fill this important spot in their programme schedule and look forward to rebuilding our presence in the UK market. As one of the hottest wrestling scenes in the world right now, we look forward to taking an active role in the market, both on television and with live events.”

Anna-Belen Dunlop and Kris Graham, Acquisitions and Channel Managers of Spike UK, added: “We are excited that Spike will be the new exclusive home of IMPACT Wrestling in the UK With Anthem’s new leadership and founder Jeff Jarrett back, this is a watershed moment for the franchise, which is a perfect fit for our Spike audience.”

For more information, please visit www.impactwrestling.com/ and www.spiketv.co.uk.

Wonder who sent you that

It's positive news for TNA where the UK is one of it's most successful markets but I do wonder how well it will continue to do if they haemorrhage their big names. Whilst the Hogan years were ridiculous, I seriously doubt TNA would have ever got any real traction, particularly in the UK without Kurt Angle, Sting etc.

I think wrestling has hit the point where you don't need big names to be that successful anymore. When you consider how the likes of NJPW/ROH/PWG/Evolve & a few british companies are doing.

Sure it helps having them but if the booking & storylines are wrong you are destined to fail and hard..

They are successful in terms of attendance, but I'm not sure that translates to gaining a larger casual audience which is a lot more difficult.

Rumours are now that TNA are going to be actively burying the Dixie Cater time on TV and are basing this "re-boot" on capitalising on nostalgia for Jarrett's time in charge of TNA. Matt Morgan has been tapped up for a main event run again and supposedly LAX will be back along with Konnan. 

Not sure this sounds like it's going to be very good.

Fully expecting Jeff Jarrett to win the world title again at some point.

I heard through the Grapevine that Dutch Mantell has taken up lead creative.  That can only be a good thing as he's been round the block for a good few years and knows the business.  Hopefully he can keep it old school and simple until they steady the ship.

Losing talent so quick is still worrying though.  This is the biggest transitional period TNA have been through for a good while, really doesnt help them that WWE hoover up talent at such a high rate.

Jeff Jarrett is back? Wonder if that will be in a TV role or strictly behind the scenes?

Oh well, I'm happy...if a little puzzled. Doesn't seem that long ago since Spike ditched TNA.

I guess the backing of Anthem and changes of managerial personnel must be giving out some positive vibes.

Crimey wrote:
It's positive news for TNA where the UK is one of it's most successful markets but I do wonder how well it will continue to do if they haemorrhage their big names. Whilst the Hogan years were ridiculous, I seriously doubt TNA would have ever got any real traction, particularly in the UK without Kurt Angle, Sting etc.

I actually liked the Hogan years...although the shows did get a little cringey at times. Big names and big personalities do help give a lot of appeal and credibility...but the awful booking and storylines, coupled with TNA's inability to draw bigger crowds meant it was ultimately unsustainable.

Looking back it seems like they were the last smouldering embers of WCW.

Crimey wrote:Rumours are now that TNA are going to be actively burying the Dixie Cater time on TV and are basing this "re-boot" on capitalising on nostalgia for Jarrett's time in charge of TNA. Matt Morgan has been tapped up for a main event run again and supposedly LAX will be back along with Konnan. 

Not sure this sounds like it's going to be very good.

Fully expecting Jeff Jarrett to win the world title again at some point.

Lol! The thought of "burying Dixie Carter" made me chuckle.

Made me think of a send-off similar to the one Eric Bischoff got (carted off in a porta-loo). Burying some of Dixie's office furniture, or something symbolic would be kinda fun.

Never seen LAX. Had to look up Konnan too - do we really want to see a guy in his 50s? or are TNA just trying to tap further into the Mexican / Latin American fan base?

If Jarrett does win the TNA title again I will officially quit watching. I wouldn't mind if he reinstated the King of the Mountain title though. It was his baby and I found the full-regulation matches quite enjoyable.