Major changes to AEW programming in 2024 - Reports
Since its inception in 2019, AEW has come a long way in terms of its television presence. In May 2019, Tony Khan's wrestling promotion signed a media deal with WarnerMedia and started airing its weekly show Dynamite in October of the same year on TNT and its pay-per-views on B/R Live.
The company has since added two more weekly shows, Rampage and Collision. At present, All Elite Wrestling airs Dynamite on Wednesdays on TBS and Rampage and Collision on TNT on Fridays and Saturdays. Over time, the Jacksonville-based promotion has also increased the number of pay-per-views produced per year. In 2019, the promotion produced 4 PPVs and is set to air 7 PPVs by the end of 2023. However, these numbers are set to change in the future.
Andrew Zarian from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported major changes to the company's programming in 2024 through a Twitter (X) post.
Zarian claimed that All Elite Wrestling will be on HBO Max next year, and the Jacksonville-based company will expand the number of pay-per-views per year to twelve.
If the reports are true, All Elite Wrestling will be exposed to a much larger audience due to the strong global presence of HBO Max and will be in a better position to compete with WWE. In addition, the reported PPV schedule will be similar to that of WWE, which produces one pay-per-view a month.
Eric Bischoff says AEW is "taking advantage" of WWE
Eric Bischoff has been a critic of All Elite Wrestling since the beginning. He recently talked about the company's television deal renewal with Warner Bro. Discovery, claiming that Tony Khan's company is capitalizing on the success of WWE without contributing much to the equation.
"AEW isn't contributing. AEW is taking advantage of the success of a WWE, for example. It is because there is this company called WWE that is worth nine billion dollars that makes executives in the industry go, 'Hm, we might be able to be worth nine billion dollars, but we could be worth a lot because the market is here.' WWE has established a worldwide market for this product, more than anybody else. If WWE would have been in the tank four years ago, and would have been flatlining and not selling out arenas, and just stumbling through pay-per-views, do you think Turner would have jumped on AEW? I don't." [H/T: Wrestling Inc.]
The veteran went as far as to call the Jacksonville-based company a well-funded hobby.