The franchise will air on the group’s 22 TV stations beginning in September and will also be streamed on the Internet.
Sinclair Acquires Wrestling’s ‘Ring Of Honor’
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced today that it has acquired the Ring of Honor wrestling (ROH) franchise. Ring of Honor
is the third largest wrestling promotion in the country, according to Sinclair.
“We are very excited about this acquisition,” said Steve Marks, COO of Sinclair’s Television Group. “Television and professional wrestling have a long history of successful partnerships and driving viewership. Unfortunately, the broadcast networks have not protected that relationship, allowing professional wrestling to migrate to cable network distribution. We believe that the powerful promotional platform that our TV stations provide, coupled with our 22% coverage of the U.S. TV households, will allow ROH to achieve name brand recognition and grow its share of the wrestling market. When you consider the make-up of our station mix and the number of CW, MNT and Fox affiliates we operate, this is a perfect fit for our viewer demographics.”
This September, Ring of Honor will debut on Sinclair’s stations, and with it, the company said, “will become the only wrestling promotion in the United States with a major, multimarket presence on broadcast TV.”
“But if you don’t live in a market with a Sinclair station, fear not,” said Silkin. “Through our website, we will be able to make the TV show available to anyone in the world with Internet access.”
ROH will be headed by Joe Koff, chief operating officer of Ring of Honor. Koff, who has been with Sinclair since 2003 and most recently was director of sales, has a long career in television broadcasting sales and management, as well as managing wrestling content. He was responsible for creating, producing, marketing, syndicating and selling barter inventory in what was to become The Battle of the Belts I, II, III. Battle of the Belts ran three consecutive seasons, from 1985 to 1987.
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Comments (6)
elliot jacobson says:
May 23, 2011 at 11:28 am
Wrestling? Really? There is a reason the genre vacated the broadcast nets several years back…can you say advertiser hit list? Good luck selling that one.
Angela Foreshaw says:
May 23, 2011 at 2:32 pm
There are other promotions such as AWWL Big Time Wrestling that air nationwide on TUFF and other local broadcast outlets across the country. They’re not the only one. Is Sinclair going to have to room on the schedule for this wrestling?
Just Fine says:
May 23, 2011 at 3:47 pm
SmackDown was MyNetworkTV’s biggest hit, and since WWE took the series away from MNT, the network has been on somewhat shaky ground. Sure, the off-net repeats do well, but they don’t put butts in the seats. Sinclair, which owns a lion’s share of the MNT affiliates, probably still sees value in professional wrestling, especially in their southern, mid-Atlantic, and northern territories. Ring of Honor is a well-established brand that has launched the careers and created a platform for many current WWE and TNA wrestlers. I don’t think Sinclair will have any problems finding slots for the series. Weekend slots had always been good for weekly shows in the past. They could even capitalize on Friday evening slots in some markets.
As for advertiser hit lists, ROH isn’t the WWE or TNA. They tend to favor wrestling over non-wrestling storylines. It’ll harken back to the golden and silver ages of wrestling, though with a greater focus on athleticism and ring skills. If you ever seen ROH’s product, you’ll see it’s acres above what WWE and TNA offer on a weekly basis, and with a larger viewership and a valuable broadcaster flipping the build, Ring of Honor could finally become a household name in the US, not just one wrestling fans could only hear about online as they have done for years.
Mark Kunkel says:
May 23, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Great reply, KaiSen! I wholeheartedly agree that ROH is poised to fill a niche in the pro wrestling genre that is, sadly, wide open right now, due to neglect on the part of WWE (DON’T call them “Wrestling”!) and TNA (whose management has no clue), to appeal to the true, core wrestling fans. In this era of niche entertainment, it doesn’t take masses to make $$$, and the focus on athletics, ring skills, and believable storylines/feuds position ROH better than anyone right now to provide a decent alternative to the pablum out there on cable on a weekly basis.
elliot jacobson says:
May 23, 2011 at 5:59 pm
.”In this era of niche entertainment, it doesn’t take masses to make $$$, and the focus on athletics, ring skills, and believable storylines/feuds position ROH better than anyone right now to provide a decent alternative to the pablum out there on cable on a weekly basis.”
You are correct..it doesn’t take masses to take a few ad share points or two, but Sinclair above all, knows how Smackdown performed on its UPNs (CWs and eventually MyNets) Solid numbers, yet weak demand. All the branding, promotion and the best time slots for ROH will not change negative advertiser sentiment…
T.L. Hughes says:
May 24, 2011 at 5:19 pm
I hope I can place my trust in Sinclair to position the ROH product well – they have experience in this genre. Take heed of the Internet interest in wrestling, this news is being highly discussed. Sinclair’s 23% market coverage is seen as a negative, but I anticipate Mr. Koff’s experience in the sale of product will translate in aggressive syndication soon.