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NEWS > BUSINESS > CNN MULLING PLAN TO AIR TNA WRESTLING
CNN MULLING PLAN TO AIR TNA WRESTLING
April 14 2010
Atlanta, GA – Since the beginning of television there has been a battle for ratings. Ratings, obviously, mean advertising dollars, the entire reason that television networks exist. In fact the earliest programs, Soap Operas, were named so because 
they were manufactured in order to sell soap products to housewives. In the era of 500 channels the battle for ratings, for eyeballs, and for advertisers has become more and more ferocious as content producers big and small continue to fight not only amongst themselves, but also with a slew of new forms of entertainment.
There are a few companies that have done better than others, due in large part to almost complete domination for decades but in recent years have seen competition erode their success. One company that has been on the downslide for a number of years is CNN, the onetime stalwart that invented the 24-hour news network. Seemingly directionless the network has fallen far behind competitors Fox and MSNBC who have traded news for partisan politics and in the process gained millions of viewers and ratings of which the old dog can now only dream. That has prompted the network to try new and sometimes radical ways to recapture the audience they helped to create, and now they appear to be going in a totally new direction potentially partnering with TNA wrestling.
“I can’t say anything for sure, particularly because we have a deal with Spike to air the bulk of the shows, but it’s seriously on the table. For TNA it’s really about respectability and for CNN it’s about ratings, things both of us have been struggling with for a long time but this deal could be a match made in heaven, so to speak,” said a TNA insider. “It’s still early in the negotiations but it looks like it is going to happen. I can’t think of a better network to be a part of and a better brand to be associated with. Sure, wrestling and news don’t come into the same realm very often but they have this unspoken connection and always have.”
It’s believed that should the deal go through there would be crossovers between the two brands, specifically with CNN star Anderson Cooper in the squared circle.
“This would be about as radical as the early days of the network. I can’t think of a new organization that even covers wrestling unless there is a tragedy never mind integrate into their regular programming. It will be really interesting to watch especially the way they fuse the two formats. Will Kurt Angle give his view on the Afghan conflict? Will Campbell Brown be at ringside in spandex? We will have to wait and see,” said Scrape TV Media analyst Sarah Piper. “This will likely not only bring in fans from both divisions to the new product but it will also bring a lot of curiosity seekers who, if they execute it right, will stay once they see how compelling the new format really is.” 
It’s not clear if Spike TV will also be a part of the deal. If so it would bring programs such as ‘1000 ways to die’ and ‘MANswers’ to the venerable CNN.
“There’s no way to overestimate how this would shake up the news game. All of a sudden, Fox and MSNBC will be looking at a competitor with a huge new audience and a completely different appearance to the masses. I would think that this could totally tip the scales towards CNN and likely in a permanent way,” continued Piper. “Simply put, Sean Hannity can’t compare to Angelina Love. Glenn Beck would feel right at home but he left CNN a while ago. Plus, they have the Hulkster.”
Anderson Cooper was reportedly spotted in a New York City gym working out but it’s not clear if that is related to the potential network change.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > CNN MULLING PLAN TO AIR TNA WRESTLING
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