Impact Wrestling finds a new home on TV in the UK
Impact Wrestling announced a new television deal in the United Kingdom today with Spike U.K., a two-year-old station in the market that also airs Bellator.
Spike U.K. airs a lot of Spike TV programming as well as some shows from parent Ch. 5 in the U.K.
The station broadcasts in the U.K. and Ireland. Only a handful of shows in the history of the station have done 200,000 viewers.
The deal goes into effect in the spring, and will air Impact every week, as well as monthly live and taped PPVs. TNA Xplosion will air on the smaller My5.
Impact will air on Friday nights, the night after the show debuts in the U.S. and Canada.
Impact had been out of the U.K. since being canceled by Challenge TV. Its ratings had declined greatly on the station prior to being dropped. Impact had often had more viewers than Raw or SmackDown in the U.K. in the past, but that’s misleading since Challenge was available in far more homes than Sky.
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.