Update On AEW’s Talks With Warner Bros. Discovery About Streaming

All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan has been very vocal about his aspirations of putting AEW onto a streaming platform, adding more fuel to that fire with the purchase of Ring of Honor in March. With such an abundance of wrestling content at Khan's disposal, a streaming platform landing spot similar to WWE's with Peacock would seem to benefit AEW given the ongoing audience interest in streaming platforms over cable and network television.

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Given the recent merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery, this possibility could be more likely than ever. The newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery owns both TNT and TBS, the networks that broadcast AEW, and the company now owns the rights to both HBO Max and Discovery Plus. Joining the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Khan provided the latest update on AEW's streaming plans.

"There's a lot of potential for us to expand our business into streaming ... especially with the new company that's emerged post-merger with Warner Bros. Discovery being so strong in streaming and having exciting plans going forward," Khan said. "That's something we're continuing to talk to them about, and I'm very fortunate to work with such a big company where hopefully we can explore that ... We've put together hundreds of hours of great footage and had the ability to produce so much great content on a weekly basis, in addition to what's on TNT and TBS every Wednesday and every Friday."

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In addition to AEW, Khan now also owns Ring of Honor, which comes with a media library encompassing decades of wrestling.

"They've got thousands of hours and amazing history," Khan said. "Many of the biggest stars in all of wrestling, including AEW and our competitors, have come through Ring of Honor. And now we've relaunched Ring of Honor, and the future of what I believe can be weekly content from Ring of Honor, in addition to regular major events in addition to the great weekly shows we could produce going forward."

"So the world of wrestling and streaming, it's very exciting," Khan continued. "Our competitor [WWE] has done big stuff in this space, and there's definitely a big revenue stream for the company, and most importantly of all a big opportunity for the wrestling fans who want this content. It's something I see people calling for every day. Literally, I'm not exaggerating. Every single day I get messages from fans calling for that exact streaming service with a library of past events and/or future events."

While AEW's presence was extremely limited at last week's Warner Bros. Discovery upfronts, Khan has said that Warner Bros. Discovery executives will be attending next week's "AEW Dynamite" in Los Angeles.

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If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sports Media with Richard Deitsch with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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