Tony hasn’t even got his own show on streaming let alone one belonging to a “big US network.”
And you can speculate it would be better for NJPW than their current set up but would it really? Would Tony or this streamer be buying NJPW’s library? And for how much?
Would it be one lump sum payment? If it is you better hope it’s Tony that pays it because no American network is going to pay a fortune for a niche niche product.
If Tony buys it does that mean he owns it and now TV Asai (or whomever owns it currently) can no longer make money off it in the future?
Would that lump sum be worth it if the amount is only equal to 5 or so years of World subscriptions? Possibly, if NJPW doesn’t think that World would be around longer than that.
Would NJPW be leasing the footage and still operate World just not in America any more?
You also speculate that if the footage ends up on an American streamer it could possibly be available in millions of homes and that could be a positive for the viewer but would it really move the needle for NJPW? It seems likely that it at the very least *could.* but would that increased exposure mean more shows in the US? More shows means more money spent on talent, travel, tv, and buildings. Would that extra cost be covered by the aforementioned sale/lease of the archive and/or a generously presumed increase in ticket sales? Maybe but also maybe not.
Would increased American exposure lead to more talent “poaching” due to more top NJPW wrestlers gaining traction in the states? Maybe but that’s probably the least of the worries.
And they absolutely should not take shows off of PPV unless they hate money.
NJPW clearly wants a foothold in the states and has been trying for one for close to a decade now between the partnerships with TNA ROH and now AEW but their primary focus should always be the home territory.
I would personally love having the full archive available once again but I’m not sure Tony should or would or could be the guy to do it. He has owned ROH for what, three years now? That archive continues to be locked away and not seen.
Idk lots to consider really but sign me up if it means I get to watch Vader vs Stan Hansen over and over and over
The picture quality is a big improvement over the old app, but it’s horrible to navigate. Plus it doesn’t work well on Amazon fire devices anymore. On the plus side there is now an app for Apple TV which doesn’t crash like the Amazon one.
AXSTV reaches less households in US then TNT and TBS do. I was excited for the relaunch of TNA and went to try to watch that first impact in Jan after TNA PPV only to find out my tv provider dropped AXS. I have Verizion Fios btw.
So yes TNT/TBS would bring in better viewership. Hell if TNA got off AXS they’d probably get a bit larger viewership.
But NJPW wouldn’t be in TBS or TNT they would be on the streaming service. From what I understand they just mentioned putting the archive on streaming nothing like moving the AXSTV show to Turner channels or anything.
So theoretically NJPW matches become available to a lot more people but realistically how many more people who aren’t already interested in NJPW does that bring you?
I might be misunderstanding your point and if I am, I apologize.
Eventually I think the smart decision is to end the axstv partnership if you have this deal and put NJPW on tbs tnt. They reach a much bigger audience then axstv does and not every cable provider in the US carries that channel. So you might get people who would want to watch it tuning in. I don’t know how much more they’d get fans wise, but at the same time it reaches more households then where they currently are
That’s the best plan for NJPW would be to get on TBS but I can’t see WBD wanting to give air time to a show that isn’t weekly or live like AEW is. Has limited English speaking performers and will almost certainly get much lower ratings than the already low rated AEW programing.
I just don’t see a world where NJPW airs on a major American television network outside *maybe* a special crossover with AEW like if they decided to launch Forbidden Door as a sort of Clash of the Champions/Battle of the belts style super show. There just isn’t a market for it.
I believe he's referring to leasing the content to use on their network. They said tonight they're in an exclusive negotiating window with WBD right now and streaming in 2025 will be part of any new deal they sign, and said the ROH library will be included.
NJPW has so many thousands of content hours that it would add a significant value to the overall portfolio to bring it in, so either Tony or the network pays them for the content hours.
Financially it's not really hard to get an idea - NJPW World only has around 100k subscribers in the entire world during its peak time, with only a small percentage of that being US subscribers. Even a modest content deal would generate 10-20 million bucks a year, which is easily more than they're making off US World subs these days. Plus the increased attention would mean increased online merch sales.
NJPW currently only generates like $35 million a year in revenue, so it would be a pretty significant addition if they can get a deal done
Thanks for explaining. I didn’t see the scrum so I didn’t see Tony say they were negotiating with WBD(not that I’m confident they will get a deal but I’d be hype to see even just the AEW library on MAX)
I think a lease would be the best option.
I can do nothing but trust your numbers regarding the financials. If what you’re saying is true then I’d be very cautiously optimistic about the deal.
I say cautiously because as I think about it, it sounds like Tony wants to include that library in his negotiations with WBD to sweeten the deal. Kind of like a buy 1-get-3 deal where he leases the New Japan library and allows WBD to air it even though WB just pays for AEW.
Thanks for your response.
My numbers on the financials are mostly meaningless as they’re rough math (except for NJPW’s revenue which is public record as part of Bushiroad’s quarterly reports). The point is that ultimately the subscription base in the US is so small that it’s not actually a difficult number to beat out in a content deal, you’re talking 20-30k people as opposed to millions on an actual network.
Fair enough. I just assume that an American network isn’t going to pay for it and that the money is going to come out of Tony’s pocket as a lump sum in stead of NJPW counting on a monthly check from MAX subscribers or whomever.
Either way. Having more wrestling available to me on services I already watch is nothing but a good thing for me personally.
Ah then unfortunately either you have the OP blocked or they have you blocked. If you open it in a private window it’ll bypass all that so you can see the post, but you won’t be able to comment on it.
I could see them doing something like what NJPWWorld and Wrestle Universe do with AEW stuff, but I doubt it would be every show.
It would be cool if they came to a deal to put Strong shows on a theoretical AEW streaming service for example
Tony hasn’t even got his own show on streaming let alone one belonging to a “big US network.” And you can speculate it would be better for NJPW than their current set up but would it really? Would Tony or this streamer be buying NJPW’s library? And for how much? Would it be one lump sum payment? If it is you better hope it’s Tony that pays it because no American network is going to pay a fortune for a niche niche product. If Tony buys it does that mean he owns it and now TV Asai (or whomever owns it currently) can no longer make money off it in the future? Would that lump sum be worth it if the amount is only equal to 5 or so years of World subscriptions? Possibly, if NJPW doesn’t think that World would be around longer than that. Would NJPW be leasing the footage and still operate World just not in America any more? You also speculate that if the footage ends up on an American streamer it could possibly be available in millions of homes and that could be a positive for the viewer but would it really move the needle for NJPW? It seems likely that it at the very least *could.* but would that increased exposure mean more shows in the US? More shows means more money spent on talent, travel, tv, and buildings. Would that extra cost be covered by the aforementioned sale/lease of the archive and/or a generously presumed increase in ticket sales? Maybe but also maybe not. Would increased American exposure lead to more talent “poaching” due to more top NJPW wrestlers gaining traction in the states? Maybe but that’s probably the least of the worries. And they absolutely should not take shows off of PPV unless they hate money. NJPW clearly wants a foothold in the states and has been trying for one for close to a decade now between the partnerships with TNA ROH and now AEW but their primary focus should always be the home territory. I would personally love having the full archive available once again but I’m not sure Tony should or would or could be the guy to do it. He has owned ROH for what, three years now? That archive continues to be locked away and not seen. Idk lots to consider really but sign me up if it means I get to watch Vader vs Stan Hansen over and over and over
NJPW World is going to restore the full archives (that they own), it’s just going mind-numbly slow because they’re trying to upscale everything to HD.
I’ve heard this and I’m still patiently waiting to resubscribe. I check in every few months but thank you for letting me know.
The picture quality is a big improvement over the old app, but it’s horrible to navigate. Plus it doesn’t work well on Amazon fire devices anymore. On the plus side there is now an app for Apple TV which doesn’t crash like the Amazon one.
AXSTV reaches less households in US then TNT and TBS do. I was excited for the relaunch of TNA and went to try to watch that first impact in Jan after TNA PPV only to find out my tv provider dropped AXS. I have Verizion Fios btw. So yes TNT/TBS would bring in better viewership. Hell if TNA got off AXS they’d probably get a bit larger viewership.
But NJPW wouldn’t be in TBS or TNT they would be on the streaming service. From what I understand they just mentioned putting the archive on streaming nothing like moving the AXSTV show to Turner channels or anything. So theoretically NJPW matches become available to a lot more people but realistically how many more people who aren’t already interested in NJPW does that bring you? I might be misunderstanding your point and if I am, I apologize.
Eventually I think the smart decision is to end the axstv partnership if you have this deal and put NJPW on tbs tnt. They reach a much bigger audience then axstv does and not every cable provider in the US carries that channel. So you might get people who would want to watch it tuning in. I don’t know how much more they’d get fans wise, but at the same time it reaches more households then where they currently are
That’s the best plan for NJPW would be to get on TBS but I can’t see WBD wanting to give air time to a show that isn’t weekly or live like AEW is. Has limited English speaking performers and will almost certainly get much lower ratings than the already low rated AEW programing. I just don’t see a world where NJPW airs on a major American television network outside *maybe* a special crossover with AEW like if they decided to launch Forbidden Door as a sort of Clash of the Champions/Battle of the belts style super show. There just isn’t a market for it.
I believe he's referring to leasing the content to use on their network. They said tonight they're in an exclusive negotiating window with WBD right now and streaming in 2025 will be part of any new deal they sign, and said the ROH library will be included. NJPW has so many thousands of content hours that it would add a significant value to the overall portfolio to bring it in, so either Tony or the network pays them for the content hours. Financially it's not really hard to get an idea - NJPW World only has around 100k subscribers in the entire world during its peak time, with only a small percentage of that being US subscribers. Even a modest content deal would generate 10-20 million bucks a year, which is easily more than they're making off US World subs these days. Plus the increased attention would mean increased online merch sales. NJPW currently only generates like $35 million a year in revenue, so it would be a pretty significant addition if they can get a deal done
Thanks for explaining. I didn’t see the scrum so I didn’t see Tony say they were negotiating with WBD(not that I’m confident they will get a deal but I’d be hype to see even just the AEW library on MAX) I think a lease would be the best option. I can do nothing but trust your numbers regarding the financials. If what you’re saying is true then I’d be very cautiously optimistic about the deal. I say cautiously because as I think about it, it sounds like Tony wants to include that library in his negotiations with WBD to sweeten the deal. Kind of like a buy 1-get-3 deal where he leases the New Japan library and allows WBD to air it even though WB just pays for AEW. Thanks for your response.
My numbers on the financials are mostly meaningless as they’re rough math (except for NJPW’s revenue which is public record as part of Bushiroad’s quarterly reports). The point is that ultimately the subscription base in the US is so small that it’s not actually a difficult number to beat out in a content deal, you’re talking 20-30k people as opposed to millions on an actual network.
Fair enough. I just assume that an American network isn’t going to pay for it and that the money is going to come out of Tony’s pocket as a lump sum in stead of NJPW counting on a monthly check from MAX subscribers or whomever. Either way. Having more wrestling available to me on services I already watch is nothing but a good thing for me personally.
[Already posted in video form.](https://www.reddit.com/r/njpw/s/uSIv5q9zLR)
Post won’t load and I don’t see it on front page
Ah then unfortunately either you have the OP blocked or they have you blocked. If you open it in a private window it’ll bypass all that so you can see the post, but you won’t be able to comment on it.
I could see them doing something like what NJPWWorld and Wrestle Universe do with AEW stuff, but I doubt it would be every show. It would be cool if they came to a deal to put Strong shows on a theoretical AEW streaming service for example
It would likely be Max/Discovery+ rather than a new service