Ring of Honor could get a cable TV deal nationwide
Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) is still looking for ways to expand. The Sinclair Broadcasting Group (SBG) company could make the jump to national cable television in the coming months. The chain has chosen, according to the latest rumors, it would be WGN America.
To this day, ROH broadcasts its weekly programming (ROH TV) through various platforms. Beyond digital distribution worldwide through its official website and FITE TV, the company has several television agreements in France, India, and Portugal. At the domestic level, in the United States, ROH is issued at all Sinclair union stations as well as in the other platforms of the television group (Charge, Comet, Tennis Channel and Stadium).
Since last year, the company that owns ROH (SBG) has tried to acquire the conglomerate known as Tribune Media to increase its television presence in the United States. The operation has been delayed and is currently in rest period due to a series of problems with independent stations and the commission of the American competition. Despite this, the relationship between Tribune and Sinclair is good and both companies are convinced to make the move.
The main television network of Tribune is WGN America. This channel which has cable and satellite broadcasts is present in most television packages and reaches about 72 million homes nationwide, 62.7% of the total market. Many analysts doubted the possibility that Sinclair would broadcast ROH TV at WGN America if the purchase of Tribune was confirmed. however, the situation would have turned 180 degrees in the last 24 hours.
With the announcement that WGN America will broadcast the pre-show of the independent event All In, the network makes clear its interest in pro-wrestling. The retransmission of this hour of content has been managed by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) wrestlers under exclusive contract with ROH in the United States, so the help of ROH or Sinclair itself is not ruled out.
We will have to wait to see if ROH TV finally ends at WGN America. Its transparency, probably, also depends on the numbers of the audience that register the first hour of All In the next September 1. At the same time, it should also be noted that the ROH Operations Director, Joe Koff has commented in several interviews his interest in bringing ROH to new television platforms in the near future.
The last time that ROH was in digital cable and satellite television was in 2015. For 26 weeks, ROH TV was broadcast on a weekly basis in Destination America. This channel, home in its day of Impact Wrestling has a smaller scope to WGN America, reaching approximately 49.2% of the American homes.
