Dixie Carter Answers Questions On Twitter
Posted by David Damage on Friday, April 29, 2011
Under: Superstar Blogs
Recently
Dixie Carter announced that she would take questions from TNA fans on
Twitter. Today, TNA posted the first round of answers, check them out…
Adam
in Chicago - Q: Just wondering if TNA plans to add a second show soon.
I'd love that a lot more than just a reairing of Impact!
A: At
this time there are no plans to create a second brand to iMPACT! (a la
Smackdown), but we are developing two new shows. Look for updates in the
near future.
Gabe Ross, Athens, OH - Q: Ratings are a big deal
for any company. What are your short and long-term goals in terms of
ratings for TNA?
A: Good question. I want to be very clear on
this, we NEVER expected to have competitive ratings with RAW at the
beginning. I have been very specific in saying that our goal was to grow
our brand and our ratings and we felt like we could do that faster on
Mondays. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a big step
forward. We expected to have to rebuild part of our audience when moving
our programming day and timeslot. We have finally settled in to an 8 pm
ET/7 pm CT Monday timeslot with an encore presentation on Thursdays as 9
pm ET. It is going to take some time to build both audiences. We have
no ego in saying iMPACT! has to draw a big rating in one night. With the
encore, we have grown our overall viewing audience significantly from
2009 averages. We have 4 hours of exposure in prime time on Spike TV. So
short term, we have settled in to a new programming schedule and need
to give both some time to grow, but are happy with our increased
viewership. Long term we want to see the overall ratings for iMPACT!
increase significantly, no matter how many airings we have.
Chris Duke, Glasgow - Q: Are there any plans to go live in the UK? And to hold televised events over here?
A:
We would love to see both happen, but those are questions for Bravo,
our network in the UK, to answer. Both would be their call.
Mark
Johns, Lackawanna NY - Q: I was wondering if we were going to see a more
expanded travel schedule and bring Impact on the road?
A: In
2007, TNA toured 12 shows on the road. In 2010, we are scheduled to tour
approximately 90 dates domestically and internationally. TNA is just
starting to establish our live events business; however, we are just not
in a position to tour iMPACT! at this point. Touring a television
production is very expensive and we must grow our brand significantly
before we would consider this business decision.
Jared in NYC - Q: The move to Mondays looks like a failure when you're changing the timeslot a month later? Thoughts?
A:
We discussed both the 8 – 10 pm ET and 7-9 pm ET timeslots with Spike
before we moved to Mondays. It would be a failure to stay in a timeslot
when you think another one might offer a greater chance for growth. When
we started iMPACT! at 8 pm ET for the 3-hour January 4th special and on
April 5th when we moved an hour earlier to get a jump on the NCAA Men's
basketball championship game, we saw higher viewership. Instead of
moving back to 9 pm the following week, we decided to leave the start
time at 8 pm ET and build that timeslot. Now it's up to TNA, Spike and
all of you to spread the word.
Brian from Canton, OH – Q: Do you listen to wrestling podcasts on iTunes?
A:
No, I don't. I would rather get my input directly from fans like I do
from my Facebook, Twitter or in person (always the most fun), and not
from sources who are giving their opinions to the viewers.
Duane Penn, Hills Township, PA – Q: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF VINCE MCMAHON?
A: I have never met him personally; however, I greatly respect the success he has had.
Don
from San Antonio, TX - Q: My question is when TNA was first founded it
was all about the new talent, now since Hogan has come aboard it seems
like all the new talent is getting buried, do you see any resemblance
between the "NEW" TNA & the "OLD" WCW???
A: I think there has
been more of a solid focus on new talent in the last few months than we
have seen in the past. The Pope, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Abyss, Matt
Morgan, Beer Money, Jay Lethal, Doug Williams, Kazarian, Rob Terry,
Beautiful People, Angelina Love, Daffney and so many more. I think the
young talents that are featured on the show have really stepped up and I
am very proud of them. These guys are the "New" TNA. With the exception
of Sting, I think every WCW talent we have has also worked for WWE. The
only resemblance to WCW would be the guys from The Band who ran
together there. Hogan and Flair appear in very different capacities. We
are using established brands like Hogan to get mainstream media
attention and help build new talent. It's about balance, and we will
continue to provide you with a good balance of established brands and
new talent.
Kevin Gander, Prunedale, CA – Q: How do you remain
positive and focused with so many negative criticisms? And how do you
sift through them to actually make the show better?
A: You learn
to have thick skin. I read fan input daily. There is a difference in
someone who is passionate about TNA and wants to see something different
versus someone who just hates the product (and won't give it a chance)
and they want to complain. Hearing what fans like is the best feedback
for me because we can strive to do more of it.
In : Superstar Blogs