>>15754734continued:
And that's not even addressing the chaotic state of WBD. since the paramount merger fell through, Zaslav's latest crazy pitch is to split the company in two: sell off things like the music catalog and the video game company, then split into two companies. One if the hollywood film & TV/MAX streaming studio (and where all their big brands would stay). The other is a mini-empire cable bundle. The combined WBD and Discovery channels.
If that scenario happens, AEW is behold to whatever happens. Zaslav might become completely hands off to them. There would be a whole new bundle of execs. Stop thinking that there will always be a suit who will be looking out for them. The *exact same* scenario happened to WCW and Turner's company. It's not a good place to be.
And yeah existing contracts will still have to be honored, but only to the bare minimum legal terms. TNA was in freefall across several metrics in the Hogan years but they still had a stable home with SpikeTV. Until finally one day, they didn't.
I think AEW takes a slightly upward diagonal incline of a deal. Finally some MAX streaming perks but their cable is more or less the same. Maybe Rampage gets cancelled but Dynamite just goes 3 hours. They'll probably get jerked around with a lot more pre-emptions as TNT/TBS continue to fill replace the NBA with whatever sports they can get. Maybe Collision gets bumped to TruTV.
They won't get less money, they'll get more, but not game-changer money that makes up for how Tony Khan has mismanaged his budget.
Expanding to 3 hours won't fix the problems he has with pacing and producing a live show, it'll just make it worse. Nothing will change the locker room issues that have been reported.
The deal will be a life jacket for 3 to 5 more years of LOLAEW.
