For the record, the following are TNA president Dixie Carter's comments on TNA's present and future on the Busted Open satellite radio show recorded this week with Doug Mortman and Dave Lagreca.

-- Carter on the decision to move up the Impact timeslot to 8:00 p.m. EST: "There’re more viewers available in that timeslot. There’s a younger audience that’s available. When the kids are not in school, we have really really high younger numbers, and that fluctuates depending on what’s going on with school year all the way up through college.

"Spike thought it was an exciting opportunity for us to try and we’re going to, and we’ll see what happens. I think what we’re trying to do is be more consistent with the bleeping of the language. I mean, we can all go see the movie Shrek and we get one thing out of it, our kids get another thing out of it. That’s the line that we have to walk: to provide something that is going to be an edgy product, but do it in a way that is not going to be offensive. And, we just have to stay consistent at it."

-- Carter on whether TNA will continue exploring live Impact airings or taking Impact on the road more often: "Those things don’t happen overnight, and you don’t stay in business unless you make really good business decisions. Touring is an incredibly expensive proposition. It’s almost a half-a-million dollars a night, and if I were playing a major arena, the cost would only go up maybe ten or fifteen thousand dollars, twenty thousand dollars. So, it doesn’t matter where we play, it’s very expensive, and we’ll play those when we feel like we’ll have the ability to sell more tickets. The growth plan is to grow not just Impact, but grow TNA Entertainment in a variety of different ways."

"I would love to be live, I really would! Some people don’t think that would be the difference, some people think being out on the road more. I don’t think if we knew what the answer was, we could move there a lot more quickly. It’s definitely cost. Part of it is a cost-issue, and the other part is, 'Do you stay in the Impact Zone and go live?' I think you’re gonna see a lot of changes in the company to the end of this year and hopefully beyond. We’re looking at a lot of different ways to do business and shake some stuff up."

-- Carter said she believes PPV is a "declining business." She also suggested there will be changes to their PPV business model in the next 12-24 months.

Carter on Impact's ratings struggles in 2012 and overall PPV business struggles: "The time will happen in the United States as well, but it’s tough getting that kind of popularity when you only have a two-hour show with so much talent. We need to grow that, we need to have more programming and be seen in more places and in different ways, and that’s one of the things we’re working on.

"Our focus in the past has been growing our television brand. And, again, when you only have one show to try to drive people to it, it’s too many pay-per-views for only having one show. It’s very difficult to try to do big arching pay-per-views once a month with only one two-hour show. If we had two shows, it would be much easier, three it would be much much easier. But, I think the pay-per-view business is a declining business and we’ve gotta stay current with new technology. People are not even watching television the way they did twenty-four, eighteen months ago. All of the headlines today are about the shrinking ratings. It’s not that the viewership is down as much, but people are watching differently: they’re watching on their phones, their iPads, they’re DVR-ing, and it’s gonna change. Things in the next twelve to twenty-four months are gonna change as well."

-- Carter on a potential second show: "I think you’ll see something second of ours and maybe even third of ours. Whether it’ll be on Spike or another network, it’s definitely part of our plan. We just need to become more mainstream, have more exposure in different ways and with different shows - a top priority for our company."

-- Carter defensive on Hulk Hogan's on-screen role and trying to rally support for TNA on Hogan's behind-the-scenes role: "I hear all the time from people, Hulk Hogan is on my television screen all the time! And, I think if people put a clock to what he does on TV and then if I put a clock on what he does for our company, it’s just a misconception amongst a small percentage of viewers. If you like Impact Wrestling, then you should love Hulk Hogan because that man is working his tail off for us and he’s expanding our brand and growing our perception and awareness level out there in ways that it would take us so long to accomplish. He’s really rolled up his sleeves, he shows up to work if he’s not on television. He is there to help build the next generation of stars. I’ll fight anybody who tries to take that away from him, and that’s a big frustration to hear it stated any other way."

-- Carter on who she sees receiving the most air-time, but necessarily most quality air-time: "If you look at who’s getting the air-time on our show, it’s definitely not Hulk Hogan - he wasn’t even on for six months. It’s not the Stings, it’s not the Ric Flairs, but those guys add something that few other wrestlers can add. But, it’s the Bobby Roodes, it’s the James Storms, it’s the Bully Rays, it’s now the Austin Aries, it’s those people that, if you look at the minutes of match time and promo time, far exceed anybody else... There are so many new faces. And I think for the first time in our history, we have really been consistent and given that focus and push to this younger roster of people, and I think that they’ve really stepped up and done a great job with the opportunity that they’ve been given."

-- Carter on the origins of the “Open Fight Night” concept: "I think it will just continue to get better week after week. I love the concept. As we’re continuing to grow our developmental league, this was just a great opportunity for us to take something that we do on an ongoing basis and let the people see it. About six or seven months ago, we were having some guys try out, and somebody was literally going to get a shot at being on the show that night, and a couple of guys really impressed. And, two of the guys that were part of that were Anthony Nese and Jesse Sorensen... So it’s just something that we thought people might want to see a real glimpse of what we do. It’s a tremendous amount of pressure when that red light goes on to put those nerves in check and get out there and perform like we know those guys can do."

-- On criticism of Garett Bischoff, whose in-ring skills she said are "equal to" Magnus, Crimson, or Gunner: "He’s a very very talented kid. I told him from the beginning, 'Look you are going to have to be better than the next guy because people are going to be so much more critical of you than they would anybody there.' And, I think because of that, it’s a really difficult position to be in, and I respect his guts because it does take a lot - quite honestly - to be able to face that and all these critics. But, the kid’s got talent, he really really does. Just like others, he’s been cycled into a solid storyline, and there’s ebbs and flows to kind of keep people in the limelight. But, he’s no different than a Crimson who’s on a great winning streak or a Magnus. There’s a handful of other guys that we have who are new that we are trying to break. And, I think it’s unjust to give him that criticism when no one is saying that about a Gunner, or a Crimson, or a Magnus. And, his in-ring abilities are equal to those guys."

[ FYI: Busted Open airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Sirius 94, XM 208, and Sportszone 860 ]

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