Following up to the huge ROH news that the promotion has secured a pay-per-view and video-on-demand TV deal, as well as locked up some top talent with new contracts, here are some notes, according to PWInsider.com:
– According to Mike Johnson, ROH President Cary Silkin was “the driving factor behind bringing the company to PPV.” One of the goals of this step is to increase the fan base past the diehard Internet wrestling fans.
– ROH has been in negotiations for months for six months, meeting with every major cable and satellite PPV provider. DirecTV hasn’t yet signed on, but ROH is hopefull that will change.
– Wrestlers were signed over the past 4-6 weeks.
– Taped PPVs from other countries as well as PPVs that combine two hours of programming from multiple events are possible.
– DVDs should still be released on schedule, after the PPVs air.
– Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard, who do commentary on the DVDs, will host the PPV programs.
– G-Funk Sports and Entertainment President Ken Gelman helped get these deals signed. Buck Woodward at PWInsider.com has reported that Gelman used to be Director of Affiliate Marketing with WWE, and was once director of the NHL Central Ice PPV program.
– While Gabe Sapolsky told us that “over ten” wrestlers have been signed, Johnson has reported the number as 12. According to Johnson, workers under contract will still be allowed to work for other independent wrestling organizations, including those that release shows on DVD, and own their character names.
– Production of PPV events will be slightly upgraded, they will be priced from $10-15 per event, and each show will be edited down to two hours.
– ROH is making sure they have legal clearance for music that will be used on PPV.
– TNA was reportedly not aware of this announcement until it was made yesterday, but it is likely that TNA’s contracted talent won’t be appearing on PPV. In fact, according to Johnson, “there are no plans” for Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley to return to ROH.
To supplement/clarify some of the above notes, here are some items discussed by Sapolsky in an interview with PWTorch.com, according to a post on the ROHWrestling.com Message Board:
– The shows will run several times per month on PPV and VOD, and there hasn’t been any pressure by iNDEMAND to reach a target number of buys.
– Production upgrades won’t be major — no pyro, for example — and the product won’t be changing. That being said, the first PPV will be accessible to new fans, who shouldn’t be confused by storylines, for example.
– This will be easy as all ROH has to do is send a tape in and the carriers play it. All six contracted events will happen.
– Since shows are two hours long, some matches will be edited out, but matches themselves will not be edited to make them shorter.
– ROH’s business plan isn’t changing, and they aren’t trying to compete with WWE or TNA.
For information on how to listen to PWTorch.com’s complete interview, click here.
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