We want ROH Wrestling

[Avid Listener]

It's not an infomercial. What are they selling? They're providing entertainment. It may not be your preferred type of entertainment, but that doesn't make it an infomercial.

OTAs should be limited in the amount of infomercials they can air. Go off the air overnight or air something of some value besides straight marketing. Otherwise, you're right, there is zero incentive to air actual programming if they can sell the whole 30 minutes as an ad.

Most indy wrestling feds sell (1) tickets to upcoming shows and (2) DVDs of earlier shows. I used to be a pro wrestling mark. I recognize pro wrestling as entertainment. Sure, the matches are fixed, but so were all the gunfights John Wayne and Clint Eastwood were in. Pro wrestlers are some of the best stuntmen around. And the storyline angles are as good as any soap opera, if it's a well done fed. I'm no longer a fan, but I appreciate the entertainment value of good, top-quality pro wrestling. But appreciating it doesn't change the truth about it. Small-time, independent pro-wrestling promotions are what they are. Feds like Ring of Honor are to the top feds like WWE the way a bar band is to an arena headliner rock band.

 

[nathannah]

It's not an infomercial. What are they selling? They're providing entertainment. It may not be your preferred type of entertainment, but that doesn't make it an infomercial.

They're purchasing time from the broadcaster to air their show. Technically it's more brokered programming, but since they purchase the time, it's under the all-encompassing 'infomercial' banner, which should be used only for programs that sell things, but labels can just stick like glue. This is how ESPN airs the NBA on ABC even though they're under the same ownership; they buy the network time as a paid program for their coverage, but unless you're someone who must notice every disclaimer, everyone else just thinks 'this is ABC's show with ESPN production'.

 

[CTListener]

They're purchasing time from the broadcaster to air their show.

That's how wrestling worked on local TV until the national expansion of the WWF. A regional show would air on bought time on stations in markets where the promotion ran live shows. Interviews intended to boost attendance at that week or month's live card were included in the TV show and were customized for each city. I assume that any proceeds from other advertising (non-wrestling-related) the stations would run during these TV shows were split with the promotion, but I may be wrong on this.

 

[Avid Listener]

I assume that any proceeds from other advertising (non-wrestling-related) the stations would run during these TV shows were split with the promotion, but I may be wrong on this.

Every fed made its own deal. There was no "standard" contract. Every indy fed negotiated the best deal that it could. Some did a better job of negotiating than others.

Here's a link to a Wikipedia article that lists most of the indy wrestling promotions (aka "feds", short for "federations") that have risen and/or fallen in the past few decades.

In particular, I found it interesting how many names I recognized from the old Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion that almost broke into the big time in the late 90's/early 2000's back when WWF (Now WWE) and WCW were fighting it out for TV ratings.

 

[Mr Tony]

They're purchasing time from the broadcaster to air their show.

Sinclair owns ROH
The show is only on Sinclair owned (or run) stations

I doubt Sinclair is "purchasing" time on THEIR stations to run a show THEY own

 

[Avid Listener]

Sinclair owns ROH
The show is only on Sinclair owned (or run) stations

I doubt Sinclair is "purchasing" time on THEIR stations to run a show THEY own

When business divisions or subsidiaries do business with each other, there is usually (though not always) some transfer of funds on the corporate ledgers. That's just good accounting practices. Also, on my cable system, there was a Ring of Honor Pay-per-view program available.