What The ROH Situation Says About The State Of Wrestling TV

AEW owner Tony Khan recently acknowledged that he has been including Ring of Honor titles and talent on "Dynamite" and "Rampage" because he has not been able to secure either a streaming or broadcast television deal for ROH. In a Wrestling Observer Radio discussion, Dave Metzler pointed out that the absence of an ROH-exclusive show on the air is a reflection of the overall state of today's broadcasting world.

"In the last couple of months, there's been a great cut back on both streaming and television ordering new shows," Metzler said. "And it's been pretty bleak. Somebody from wrestling who's involved in trying to sell programming basically said that the Ring of Honor thing was very significant because it showed that even Tony Kahn couldn't get a new show on television. And the basic feeling is that right now, nobody can."

Metzler highlighted a New York Times article that detailed how the broadcast networks and major streaming services were cutting back on the number of scripted series they were ordering. He pointed out that advertising revenue is down for television and while streaming services have been under pressure from Wall Street to show increasing profits rather than rising subscription levels.

Metzler noted Impact Wrestling signed a deal with the DAZN sports streaming service last month, but he felt that was an aberration; DAZN ended its two-year partnership with Major League Wrestling in June.

"I'm sure it's not for a high price," he said. "But for the most part, we're really not seeing wrestling streaming content being sold to the big players at all. Peacock, obviously, with WWE – that deal's done. But as far as other deals, they're not really there. So, you know, when it's been very, very hard – there's a lot of people wanting to get on and the markets dry right now."