AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery have reportedly been in “deep” extension talk regarding the current television deal.
According to Fightful Select, sources suggest that there is the personal belief that an announcement could be made regarding a new deal as early as this summer or fall.
The report also notes that Warner Bros. Discovery is said to be “very happy” with AEW, specifically noting how Tony Khan has shown flexibility in terms of adding and removing shows, providing different kinds of content, and working with preemptions and bumps to other times when needed.
Fight Select further states that Warner Bros. Discovery is said to have input and influence in terms of AEW programming with the crossover of promotion and AEW talents being featured or not. WBD is also said to be pleased with how adaptable AEW has been when it comes to overruns and other requests from WBD. An example given, was the fact that WBD wanted AEW’s TV programming to be exclusive to its network, which is what led to the cancelation of AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation on YouTube.
As it pertains to Ring of Honor, Fightful Select notes that WBD reportedly has not had much interest in the promotion and apparently had interest when Sinclair had owned the company.
Fightful Select concluded in their report that televising AEW All In has also been “actively discussed” as part of the television rights extension talks. The WBD source that spoke with Fightful Select, stated the deal would be a “huge money increase for AEW, by the way things are looking now.”