Jess 1115 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 From the "I swear I am not making this up" file... Sinclair announced today that it purchased independent pro wrestling organization Ring Of Honor. For those understandably not familiar with pro wrestling today, ROH is a smaller independent organization based out of the Philadelphia area that, while still fake, eschews all the "sports entertainment" crap that WWE does. It has a bit of a cult following because of this, but it's never been very big - its biggest exposure has been through a weekly show on HDNet that ended a few months back. Obviously, Sinclair's plan is to run a weekly Ring of Honor show on most of the stations it owns, tentatively on Saturday nights at 9pm or 10pm. Long term plans are to syndicate the show, but for right now they'll run it on the Internet so that people in non-Sinclair markets can see them. Press release is here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ring-of-honor-announces-sale-to-sinclair-broadcast-group/ It's... pretty much one of those "what the hell" things. I mean, I can see someone like Tribune doing this, but Sinclair hasn't shown much interest in building up groupwide programming since NewsCentral went down in flames, have they? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev57 46 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 While it does seem a little weird to me, from other reports I've seen, this has been something Sinclair has been thinking about for awhile. In fact, the guy they've appointed to head up the organization is one with TV and pro wrestling experience, so it seems as if Sinclair has at least thought this through before doing it. And on a side note, I have also read that HDNet still owns the rights to all HD broadcasting content, but ROH owns all SD content, for whatever reason. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66322 Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnson 17 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 This is a head-scratcher. Sinclair can't invest in the stations it has, but has plenty of money to buy a wrestling franchise? Yeah, that makes sense. On the other hand, if it does well, it could give those cash-strapped news departments some money to work with. Could work, though. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66327 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 437 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 For Ring of Honor this is a bigger platform than HDnet. Lets see where it goes Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66329 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColumbusNewsFan 217 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 This is a head-scratcher. Sinclair can't invest in the stations it has, but has plenty of money to buy a wrestling franchise? Yeah, that makes sense. On the other hand, if it does well, it could give those cash-strapped news departments some money to work with. Could work, though. KJ, you know If I'm defending Sinclair it 's weird. :blink: Hell is currently freezing over as I speak. :lol: I like this move ALOT I have seen Sinclair doing some investing in the news product lately and they have been active recently on the syndication front. I could see this on FOX 28 WTTE on Saturday night in HD. I'm also thinking HDNet will not be in the ROH's picture much longer due to them losing major cable companies like Time Warner. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66333 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 437 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 There has been talk of ROH leaving HDnet for a while, but they stuck with them considering it was the best deal. But now ROH will lose the HD footage of there televisied shows. Also, their PPV's are online at I think $14.95 (better than the top 2 which charge from $30-$50 a PPV). It will be a interesting move for the federation and for Sinclair and maybe they can overtake TNA (who has a lucrative cable deal with SPIKE/VIACOM). Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66347 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 437 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I forgot to add, I read somewhere that pretty much the same people that are in charge now will continue to run ROH on the wrestling front. Rumors this week of Ring of Honor being sold were confirmed on Saturday afternoon. ROH announced that owner Cary Silkin has sold the promotion to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., a television broadcaster. Silkin will remain in the front office along with Syd Eick, Ross Abrams, Delirious as head booker, and Jim Cornette as executive producer. ROH will bring on a new COO, Joe Koff, who is listed as a long-time Sinclair executive and has pro wrestling TV experience in the 1980s. Kevin Kelly will lead play-by-play. Former WCW executive Gary Juster is joining ROH to head up live event promotions. Part of Juster's task will be building up current markets and expanding into new locations following additional TV exposure. So from this, it is going to really be that the people running the wrestling side of things will run the wrestling side, and Sinclair will be a business partner in ROH. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66348 Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieboy247 42 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Well this is probably going to remind some wrestling fans of the time when billionaire Ted Turner purchased Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), which would become WCW. And we all know how that turned out. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66377 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 437 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 IN this deal though, the wrestling is still being handled by great wrestling people & most of the ROH structure is not changing. The only piece that is changing is the operating officer that will be the liaison in between ROH and Sinclair. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66384 Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnson 17 Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 KJ, you know If I'm defending Sinclair it 's weird. :blink: Hell is currently freezing over as I speak. :lol: I like this move ALOT I have seen Sinclair doing some investing in the news product lately and they have been active recently on the syndication front. I could see this on FOX 28 WTTE on Saturday night in HD. I'm also thinking HDNet will not be in the ROH's picture much longer due to them losing major cable companies like Time Warner. I'm trying to figure out where KDNL is going to put this. Perhaps in that Show-Me St. Louis reairing timeslot on Saturday or Sunday. Right now there's no news to speak of on those nights. It's gamble. If it works, lots of eyeballs and revenue. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66442 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 437 Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 I'm trying to figure out where KDNL is going to put this. Perhaps in that Show-Me St. Louis reairing timeslot on Saturday or Sunday. Right now there's no news to speak of on those nights. It's gamble. If it works, lots of eyeballs and revenue. It is a gamble, but it is a start for ROH and a very good start for Sinclair if they pull this off the right way. I would like to see the first show to see what they are going to be doing in terms of product on the wrestling side and to see how the affiliates work with this. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/7302-sinclair-buys-pro-wrestling-organization/#findComment-66448 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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