Dixie Carter Talks Impact Going Live, Alex Shelly, Brooke Hogan, Reducing PPVs, More

TNA President Dixie Carter was on a media conference call this afternoon to discuss Impact going live this summer, starting tomorrow. Here are some highlights from the call:

- Impact will be live for the next 12 weeks. They are hoping to make it 13 weeks, because the taped week comes before a PPV. They plan on mixing the format from week-to-week to keep the product fresh.

- It was Dixie Carter who approached Spike TV about going live this summer. Everything is happening quickly, and she didn't know they would be going live for the summer until the last set of TV tapings. She feels that going live will prevent spoilers from getting out and will encourage people to watch the show live rather than on DVR. The best thing for them is to provide a great live event experience to the fans. Ideally they would be live every week, but they can't do that until it makes sense. Tomorrow is a big night, and the show will continue to improve week after week.

- Dixie Carter will introduce Brooke Hogan tomorrow night, and Brooke will not be wrestling. Brooke is a celebrity and is there to help bring more attention to the company. In regards to negative feedback to her signing, she stated that Brooke hasn't been given a chance yet and that she was impressed by how much Brooke knew about the business.

- There will be another announcement made tomorrow night, fans will have to tune in to see what it is.

- They don't feel that monthly pay-per-views are necessary, and are currently negotiating their PPV deals.

- There was talk about moving Impact to three hours last winter, but she chose quality over quantity.

- She called Alex Shelley a great talent, and the door is open for him to return.

- She was proud of the company's ten year anniversary and noted that there were many who didn't expect the company to last ten months.

- Going head-to-head with WWE on Monday night showed how strong WWE's business is today, and she respects that and wants to build TNA in that direction.

- She had no comment on the Ric Flair situation.

- They don't expect a major ratings jump initially, but feel that being live will help them establish the new timeslot faster. It will take time for the audience to find them with the timeslot change and the summer season, but she is confident they will.

- She is honored about how hard Hulk Hogan works for the company, and it will be a big part of his legacy.

- She wants to have consistency and quality from week to week, and slow down and build their storylines better.