Jeff Jarrett Interview 16.1.2011
Posted by David Damage on Thursday, November 17, 2011
Under: Interview
Jeff
Jarrett was interviewed today by The Baltimore Sun to promote TNA's
Maryland shows this weekend. Here are some of the highlights:
The Shortlived Monday Night War in 2010: "We learned, just like the
wrestling fans learned, that the world has changed. Back in the "Monday
Night Wars," that was before our good little friend called the DVR was
around, and you had to flip back and forth. Nowadays, the viewing habits
are just entirely different and we found that out. The landscape has
changed, so we've planted our feet in our ground and we're making it
grow, and that's our strategy right now. Had we not tried it, though, we
would have never found out."
TNA's Profitability: "Absolutely.
We turned that corner four or five years ago. Like WWE or any other
business, would we like to be making more money? Sure, but the reality
is that the U.S. economy is still in a recession, and internationally we
have different economies to deal with, but all in all, we're pleased."
Aspects of the company Jarrett is happiest with: "[Toy manufacturer and
licensee] Jakks Pacific comes to mind, and international television.
That's probably the first two off the top, and then the [merchandise],
and Don West is a huge part of that. He is so in tune and in touch with
the TNA fan — what they like, what they don't like. He's an absolutely
great salesman, great marketer — that's his background going back to the
Shop at Home Network days. There's also the live events. We're not a
huge touring company — we do between 80 and 100 shows a year, but we'll
call it a lean, mean machine when we take it on the road, and they're
very entertaining and they're profitable."
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