Update On Sami Callihan's Impact Contract, Josh Mathews Addresses Impact's New Later Time Slot
Sami Callihan joined Impact on a one-year contract last November that was set to expire shortly. But with the success he had over the last year, Callihan decided to re-sign with Impact while many others chose to depart.
Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc asked Callihan about his new deal during Impact Wrestling's latest Press Pass podcast earlier today.
"Well first, it's a sh– ton of money because I'm the draw and they know they've got to keep me under contract even though they fine me every six months," said Callihan. "They know right now I'm the most watched thing on their television program, I'm the most talked about thing on their television program and oVe ain't going anywhere for a very long time."
Apart from Callihan sticking around with Impact, the other big news is that the Impact! show will be moving time slots. The show is moving from 8pm ET to 10pm ET, which certainly isn't ideal as they are no longer in primetime.
Nick asked Josh Matthews about the time change and Matthews explained why the air time doesn't matter that much in this day and age.
"We're all aware of the fact that moving from 8pm to 10pm?no one's really excited about that happening," replied Matthews. "But you roll with the punches and I think that Impact in 2018, rather than shy away from that, [we embrace it]. We did a little spot on "Impact Late Night" and you'll hear some things like "Impact After Dark" being said on commentary."
"That's the other thing about wrestling and TV in general in 2018. Most of us rely on our DVR services than appointment viewing. I'm a huge fan of shows like Manifest but I have no idea what day of the week it's on. I watch it on Hulu whenever I want so those are the kind of things that you have to look at. To me, the only appointment viewing is live sports. I think Impact could get to being appointment viewing and for our fans it should be appointment viewing, but the fact that it's on at 10 now, most of us will rely on DVRs to watch the show."
Impact! will make it's 10pm ET debut on Pop TV on Thursday, Oct. 25.