WBD executive talks AEW, Power Slap "experiment"

[Chris]

Kathleen Finch, the Chairman, and Chief Content Office for Warner Bros Discovery U.S Networks group recently spoke to Deadline regarding AEW and Dana White's Power Slap league.

The Power Slap League debuted last week on TBS, bringing in fewer than 300,000 viewers and scoring a 0.10 in the 18-49 demographic. Finch was asked if there was concern regarding the program following a video being made public that showed White slapping his wife.

Finch responded:

This is an experiment. The goal is, we are making shows for our fans, that’s who we work for. Fans of wrestling have a lot of overlap with the fans of this and it’s huge on social media so the idea really is, if we can take something that’s huge on social, bring it to a linear audience giving the fans what they want.

Since the Warner Bros/Discovery merger, many scripted shows on the company's networks have been canceled, even some that had already completed filming new seasons. These include shows such as Snowpiercer, The Big D, and Chad. Finch praised many of the unscripted programs WBD offers such as MILF Manor, a prank show similar to Punk'd that will debut soon, as well as AEW and the Power Slap League.

Finch continued to say that she was not familiar with pro wrestling before accepting her current position at Warner Bros Discovery. She said that one surprising thing she has learned is that wrestling is something families watch together.

Finch said:

This may surprise you to know that I did not know much about wrestling before I took this job. I know, I seem like a wrestling fan, but I’m not. But I did have to learn a lot about the audience. A lot of families that watch [wrestling], I was very surprised to learn this. I have huge respect for this audience. AEW wrestling airs on two of our networks, TNT and TBS — on both nights it kills. Finding something that speaks to that audience, that would be gold.

Finch previously praised the audience AEW garners last October during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter as well. She said the company was actively looking at ways to feature AEW's stars "outside of the ring."

We really play in the sports space. One of the things that we’re doing around sports is creating shoulder programming to hold onto those fans. AEW pulls huge numbers, so we are working with the wrestling team to figure out what new kind of content can we build that’s not in a wrestling ring.

AEW is believed to have filmed a behind-the-scenes documentary in November.

WBD executive calls Power Slap League 'an experiment,' praises AEW

Dana White's Power Slap League debuted last week on TBS.

www.f4wonline.com

 

[Deezy]

These suits saw rasslin fans pop at slap exchanges and went "they'll love this slapfight shit".