TNA Impact!
TNA Impact! | |
---|---|
TNA Impact! | |
Genre | Professional wrestling Sports Entertainment |
Created by | Jeff Jarrett Vince Russo Dutch Mantel |
Starring | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling roster |
Country of origin | ![]() |
No. of episodes | 208 (as of July 3 2008) |
Production | |
Production location | Impact! Zone |
Camera setup | Multiple-camera setup |
Running time | 2 hours per episode (1 hour 28 minutes plus commercials). |
Original release | |
Network | Fox Sports Net (2004 – 2005) Webcast/Urban America Television (limited markets) (2005) Spike TV (2005 – present) |
Release | June 4 2004 – present |
TNA Impact! (official typeset "TNA iMPACT!") is a professional wrestling television program produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as its main television program. TNA Impact is filmed at the Impact! Zone (Soundstage 21 at the Universal Studios Florida theme park of Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida).[1] Tapings of the show are held biweekly on Mondays and Tuesdays and admission is free.[2]
It currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike TV, in the United Kingdom on Bravo (as of 2008),[3] throughout Europe on Eurosport, in Germany on Premiere, in Spain on Antena 3 and Antena.neox, in Quebec on RDS, throughout Asia on ESPN Star Sports, in the Philippines on ABC and Star World, in South Korea on Cinema Networks, throughout Africa on Click Boogie and , FOX8 in Australia[4].[5] Following Impact's debut in Australia, there has been growing demand to have it broadcast in New Zealand.
History
Fox Sports Net era: May 2004 - May 2005
In May 2004, TNA announced that they had negotiated a television deal with Fox Sports Net (FSN) where they would get a one-hour timeslot on Fridays in most markets, putting TNA on unrestricted cable and satellite for the first time.[6] TNA began taping TNA Impact that month and aired the first episode on June 4 2004. Impact was also syndicated throughout Canada (on RDS) and Europe (on The Wrestling Channel and, also later, both Eurosport Bravo and Bravo 2). TNA's contract with FSN expired in May 2005 and was not renegotiated, with the last episode airing on May 27 2005. The series as a whole gained little success, averaging a 0.2 household rating.
Webcasts
TNA was left with no television deal and, therefore, had no means of promoting their monthly pay-per-views (although Impact did continue to air on certain regional networks in place of TNA Xplosion). On July 1, TNA began offering new episodes of Impact through their website, first using BitTorrent downloads, then by streaming through RealPlayer.[7][8] To save on production costs, four hours of Impact were recorded in a day and made available throughout the subsequent month.[9]
Spike TV era
At the same time, TNA began seeking a more profitable television outlet, finally negotiated a Saturday night timeslot with Spike TV and started airing Impact on October 1 2005. Two episodes were taped every other Tuesday, airing them on the subsequent Saturday.[10] TNA's syndication contracts for Impact on local TV channels, from after the FSN contract, were converted to contracts for TNA's syndicated show, TNA Xplosion. They are no longer paying for the timeslot, though Spike TV controls their advertising revenue.[11] Because of viewership growth, Impact was moved to Thursdays in April 2006, and later to an earlier primetime slot in November. Tapings were moved to Tuesdays.[12]
Starting in June 2006, episodes of Impact became available at the iTunes Music Store.[13]
Two hour expansion
Impact expanded to two hours on October 4, starting at the same time.[14]
On January 17, Spike TV presented an event entitled "Global iMPACT!", which featured TNA wrestlers in matches against the talent of New Japan Pro Wrestling.[15]
On March 27, Impact! aired live for the first time in the show's history in its regular timeslot.
Announced in a release on TNAwrestling.com on April 2 2008, TNA came to terms on a deal that had "Impact" airing in Australia starting April 5. Up until then, TNA had only broadcast their monthly pay-per-view events on Main Event. Impact now airs every Saturday at 10 p.m. on Fox8 in Australia.
Content
Channel (timeslot) | Avg. rating |
---|---|
FSN (Fri. 3pm) | 0.2 |
Spike TV (Sat. 11pm) | 0.7 |
Spike TV (Thu. 11pm) | 0.9 |
Spike TV (Thu. 9pm) | 1.0 |
Spike TV (Thu. 9pm; 2hrs) | 1.1 |
Impact generally features four to seven matches in over the course of the two hour show, as well as numerous interviews and segments interspersed between the matches.[18] Due to the nature of the wrestling business, advertisements for merchandise and upcoming pay-per-view events often serve as bookmarks for the commercial segments.
When Impact was on Fox Sports Net, all matches had a time limit and the station's Fox Box was used.[19] In the event of a time limit draw, the winner was determined by the NWA Championship Committee, a group consisting of three veteran wrestlers. Since leaving the channel, Impact has discarded the time limit concept.
Roster
Commentators
- Mike Tenay (June 2004 – present)
- Don West (June 2004 – present)
Management Director
- Jim Cornette (July 16, 2006 - Present)
- Matt Morgan - Bodyguard/Enforcer (August 9, 2007 - April 10, 2008)
Special Episodes
Episode Title | Date | Rating | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Live iMPACT! | March 27 2008 | 1.0[20] | First live iMPACT! ever. |
Recurring segments
Segment | Type | Host(s) | Years active | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
$25,000 Fan Challenge | Wrestling Challenge | Awesome Kong w/Raisha Saeed |
May 2008 - July 2008 | A "fan" (kayfabe) enters the ring to compete with Awesome Kong. If they win they get $25,000 & and the TNA Knockout Championship. The contest ended with Taylor Wilde defeating her, making her the third champion in history. |
Directors of Authority
The Director of Authority was the on-screen authority figure for the company.
- Vince Russo (February 18, 2004 - November 7, 2004)
- Dusty Rhodes (November 7, 2004 - June 17, 2005)
References
- ^ "Universal Studios Florida - Live Shows - TNA Wrestling". Universal Orlando Resort. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
- ^ "Total Nonstop Action Wrestling On Spike TV! - LIVE EVENTS". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ UK TNA Wrestling Blog: TNA iMPACT! moving to Bravo (1) from January 5 2008
- ^ "TNA On Fox8 In Australia". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ "TNA Coverage List". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ^ Gray, Richard (2004-05-05). "NWA: TNA's TV deal officially signed, Latest on Hirohito angle, WWE trademarks". Lords of Pain. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
- ^ "TNA Officially via Bit Torrent". 2005-06-25. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ "TNA Reaches Deal With Real Broadcast Network To Stream "iMPACT!" News". 2005-06-30. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ "Impact! Taping Results from Orlando, FL for the next four weeks". WrestleView. 2005-07-20. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "More on TNA's new television deal with Spike TV; debut & taping schedule". WrestleView. 2005-07-21. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Notes on TNA's debut on Spike TV in October, advertising situation, more". WrestleView. 2005-08-11. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "TNA Changes iMPACT! Taping To Mondays". TNA Wrestling News. 2006-03-21. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
- ^ "No Surrender Note, iMPACT!/ITunes, & More". TNA Wrestling News. 2006-07-03. Retrieved 2007-01-
01.
{{cite web}}
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(help); line feed character in|accessdate=
at position 9 (help) - ^ "TNA Wrestling Goes Two Hours On SpikeTV Starting October 4". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ Total Nonstop Action Wrestling On Spike TV!
- ^ "NWA TNA Impact Ratings". Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
- ^ "Ratings". WrestlingAlert. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
- ^ "Quick Results Archive". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
- ^ "Sudden Impact: 6.04.04". 411mania. 2004-06-04. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
- ^ "Final 3/27 TNA Impact rating - first live show does disappointing number". WrestleView.com. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
External links
- TNA "iMPACT! at Spike TV
- TNA "iMPACT!" in the UK on Bravo
- Official TNA Videos at YouTube