The end of ROH on HDNet

[Thriller Ant]

Source

Ring of Honor's current contract with HDNet is up in April and hasn't, and seemingly won't be renewed is the tl;dr version of what the link says. Although this may seem like a blow to the biggest independent wrestling company in the U.S., I see it as more of a mixed bag.

Yes, this will leave ROH without a television deal of any kind, which is definitely a step backwards. The article also states that the TV ratings for ROH on HDNet were low anyway, helping the decision from HDNet's side to not renew the contract. Finally, the loss of exposure will hurt, as the article states that ROH's DVD sales, the company's main income source, are slipping.

While those negatives are a bit unsettling, I think the potential positives more than make up for them. First, ROH has gained a new outlet since starting on HDNet in GoFightLive.tv, the home of ROH's Internet pay-per-views. This is a huge new market for ROH's product, and allows the company to earn money 3 ways from shows (tickets, iPPV, DVD).

Next, even though the ratings were supposedly low (I don't know them offhand), HDNet is a channel with extremely limited viewership. This leads into my next point, which is the fact that this opens the door up for HDNet to upgrade their television deal. A return to HDNet is still a possibility, and the network and ROH have had talks of having a live ROH show separate from the expiring deal some time this year. With that said, if ROH can get a deal on even a lower-end cable channel, exposure of the company will be much greater than it was on HDNet and the expansion of ROH can continue.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[PhD]

I don't see anyway that this could be a positive for ROH. If the deal isn't being renewed because of low numbers, why would HDNet then resign them later? And if you can't draw on an uber-boutique channel like HDNet, why would any pay-cable channel want to add you? I doubt we see ROH on TV again unless it's on something even more niche, like MAV or something obscure like that.

Unfortunately, pro-wrestling is declassé these days; it's all about MMA. I just hope they're able to keep the company afloat, because it really is a great product.

 

[Chicago1989]

This is a HUGE blow. This isn't the kind of news you wanna hear from ROH in the beginning of 2011. I was expecting good things to happen from ROH this year, but losing a TV deal in this day and age ain't a good thing. But at the same time, HDNet seemed to be going nowhere anyways. Hopefully, this will open more opportunities for ROH because they deserve it.

I'll still be supporting ROH, but I'm not gonna be buying DVDs all the time to catch up with the product; Forget it. The HDNet shows were also mediocre compared to the live shows as well. Hopefully, if they get a new network, it'll be one that truly showcases what ROH is all about. I'll try to be optimistic though...

 

[dman1373]

i think that this had to happen to all roh to grow. They weren't getting any ratings because their is no one that even has hdnet. I think that their is some channel that will pick up roh. And any would be better than hd net.